Silver turns to Red
by Cochrann
Summary: Chapter 3 edited. Tara O’Connor, a modern lass with the heart of a warrior, finds herself entwined in the destiny of Sesshoumaru, Lord of the ancient Dog Clan. A fierce camaraderie blossoms as they battle foes in their quest to rectify an an
1. Chapter 1 The Arrival

Summary:

Tara O'Connor, a modern lass with the heart of a warrior, finds herself entwined in the destiny of Sesshoumaru, Lord of the ancient Dog Clan. A fierce camaraderie blossoms as they battle foes in their quest to rectify an ancient mistake. As time goes by, will their friendship develop into something more or will the shifting fates separate them once again?

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha that privilege belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own Tara O'Connor and her dog Bran.

The plane had been circling the airport for the past forty minutes waiting for its chance to land as I looked out the window. _'My first time flying and I end up half way around the world' I thought 'Well I never do anything half way, when I decide to do something I always put my whole heart and soul into it – and not even God himself could stop me once I made up my mind as my Family likes to often point out. 'Like my current situation' _mentally chuckling _'Two years ago I was rifling through the world literature section of our little library and my hand fell upon a book on Japanese legends. It had the most captivating tales and drawings of youkai, that from the moment I opened up the book I felt this inexplicable connection to that land. So needless to say I became absolutely obsessed with all things Japanese. I started learning the language the very next day and by the end of the week I had informed my family – to their horror – that I was moving to Japan as soon as possible.'_

My Mother was actually the first one in the family to accept my newfound love of all things Japanese by reminding me that her younger brother had married a Japanese woman and their oldest daughter should be about the same age as me. So I immediately began writing to my cousin Kagome. We exchanged letters for about six months and found that we had this natural, almost sisterly, connection to each other. Yet I always felt that there was something important that was going on in her life that she wasn't telling me. My suspicions were verified one day when I began to read her latest letter when she revealed to me her adventures in the distant past.

_Dear Tara,_

_I don't care whether you think I'm crazy, but if I don't tell someone the whole story…not the half-truths I've been telling my family…I'm going to literally fall apart soon! It was two and half years ago when this whole ordeal started. On my fifteenth birthday I was pulled down the ancient bone-eaters well (which is located on our Shrine) by a centipede demon and landed five hundred years in the past. Well to make a long story short the first person I met was a inuhanyou (half-dog demon) named Inuyasha, who I freed from a magical spell that had sealed him to a tree for the past fifty years. I freed him so he could kill the centipede demon that was attacking me because I had (unknown to me) the Shikon No Tama (jewel of four souls) inside my body, which she ripped out of me before Inuyasha killed her._

_A few days latter while I was trying to return to the bone eaters well in an attempt to go back home the jewel was stolen from me by a crow demon. Now you have to understand I have never even held a bow before that day let alone used one before so it's understandable that when I did shoot the crow that I also hit the jewel and shattered it in the air. This means there are little shards laying around all over Japan for any wayward youkai (demon) to pickup and thereby become twice as strong and twice as evil._

_Well in the end we decided to work together to retrieve the jewel shards since I'm the only one that can sense them and he's definitely strong enough to defeat those jewel enhanced youkai. Along the way though we've accumulated three more companions. The first was an orphaned kitsune (fox demon) named Shippou, who I've basically adopted as my own. Next was Miroku a priest who was cursed by a demon with a wind tunnel slowly growing inside his hand. He's also a lecher, but he's still a good guy, you just have to watch where his hand is at all times. The last person to join our group was Sango a youkai exterminator and her little cat demon Kirara. Her entire family and village were destroyed by the most evil hanyou ever, Naraku. He is also trying to find the jewel shards so that he can have the power to become a full-blooded youkai for some horribly evil purpose. _

_Well now that you know the basic story I can finally ask you what I've wanted to for so long. I need you help desperately Tara! Against my better judgment I've fallen in love with Inuyasha, but I swear to God I can't figure out whether he feels the same way or what? I mean he constantly calls me 'bitch' – especially when I refuse to do what he says. He's always making me so mad that invariably I have to subdue him with a magical rosary at least once a day which only makes him sulk afterwards instead of apologizing for upsetting me. Yet he protects me with a ferocity that makes my heart skip a beat. He becomes extremely possessive of me when Kouga (a wolf youkai) comes around saying I'm his woman, yet the only reason he ever gives for his possessive behavior is that he can't stand having that stinky wolf around. I feel like I'm missing something but I just can't figure him out Tara! Not knowing where I stand in his life is driving me insane! Please, if you have any information that could shed some light on my situation please tell me!_

_Well you probably think I'm completely nuts right about now, but I just had to tell someone and I've always felt like I could trust you even though I've never met you. _

_Your cousin,_

_Kagome_

_P.S. If you know anything about spiritual powers let me know because no matter how hard I try I can't control mine._

Well you can just imagine my surprise at reading such a fantastic tale and of course I believed every word she wrote – I felt a closer connection to her than I did with my twin sister! So I promptly wrote back detailing how she should go about fixing some of her problems.

_Dear Kagome,_

_First off I don't think your crazy and I believe everything you said in your last letter. You're probably wondering how I can so readily believe such a story, well it has to do with my family's ancestry – some of which we share since your father was my mother's brother. Well anyway, I'm an O'Connor which means "lover of hounds". Now I know that doesn't really mean much since there are about a million O'Connors in the world, but unlike the rest of those people my particular family – through my Father's blood – are the direct descendants of an inuyoukai warrior named Sgeolan. He and his brother Bran decided to serve a human warlord named _**_Fionn Mac Cumhaill. He ended up marrying the granddaughter of his lord, _**_Blaithín, who was part Sidhe – the Sidhe are a race of magical beings with almost god-like abilities. So from that union comes my family. Wasn't that just a fascinating history lesson – not! _

_Since that was almost two thousand years ago my family has not retained any particularly non-human physical characteristics like I'm sure your friend Inuyasha has. The only physical attributes that we haven't been able to shake off are our height, eye and hair color. Our eye color is always bright blue and our hair is always a reddish fawn color. Luckily for us these are not unusual characteristics for Irish humans so no one gives our family a second glance. Unfortunately our height is not common and even I tower over the men a good foot or so. – My poor Mother looks like a tinny fairy when she's stands next to Father, it is one the funniest sights you've ever seen! – I digress._

_Now to help you with an unruly hanyou. My family may physically be human but we still have all the same instincts and mannerisms of a full-blooded inuyoukai – which your friend has too. Inuyoukai are similar to wolves in their pack hierarchy and behavior. Since the two of you met as individuals and subsequently added to it with other adults that means that the two of you are already in the relationship of lead male and lead female. So yes you are his equal in the pack but that doesn't give you the right to argue with him – especially in front of the rest of the pack! Now that doesn't mean you can't cajole him into doing what you want in certain situations. So here's how you do it, you do everything in a submissive manner – which means you **never** raise your voice or look him in the eye when your doing this. Displaying your neck to him will definitely pacify him – possibly to the point that he'll agree with you. _

_Now to address his special name for you. He calls you 'bitch' because he sees you as his mate. It's a term of endearment among inuyoukai and is only used with your mate. Also when you're arguing with him he's using it as the nicest way to remind you of your place in the pack. Think of it this way, he could easily use physical force to put you in your place but instead he's telling you (in inuyoukai fashion mind you) that he's telling you what to do because he cares for you as his life partner. So actually it's quite romantic when you think of it that way. _

_So he's basically told you he loves you but you haven't responded in the inuyoukai way. Well I'd suggest that you tell him that you'd like to be his back scrubber the next time he takes a bath. You see grooming shows your acceptance of him as a mate. Physical interaction is very important in inuyoukai courtships because your scent will be mixed with the other's demonstrating that you two are romantically involved. When the two of you do decide to become full fledged mates you will exchange blood right after having sex the first time. That way you will take on some of his characteristics, the most important of which will be an extended life span as well as heightened senses and healing abilities. _

_Now the answer to why you're unable to handle your powers is because they're not Japanese spiritual powers but Irish spiritual powers. Which means they're used for a different purpose and are honed through a different type of training. See you've inherited your spiritual powers through your Father's family as I have too through my Mother (which has given me the ability to awaken my Sidhe and inuyoukai blood too). Our powers are more warrior like than protective. You need to channel your powers through an object that you have an emotional and spiritual connection to, the more personal the object the easier it will be to channel more energy through it. You attach this object to your weapon of choice and concentrate your powers through it so that your weapon will be engulfed by your powers. Always keep half your mind focused on that object so that you can control the amount of power flowing into it and the intensity of that power. Don't be afraid of the amount of spiritual power you have it is completely normal for Irish priestesses to have more spiritual power than Japanese priestesses because our powers are meant to be used in battle not just to protect against youkai. Actually our powers can hurt both humans and youkai just as easily as protect the two species. _

_Well I hope that this information will help you with all your problems. You are so going to have to tell me what happens with you and Inuyasha. I just know his jaws going to drop to the ground when you offer to be his back scrubber! Seriously though I do want to tell you that I would be more than happy to help train you and if you should for any reason fail to complete your quest than, as a fellow clanswoman and priestess, I will take your place. _

_Your cousin,_

_Tara_

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the pilot interrupts my silent musings, "we are now first in line to be landing and will arrive in the next ten minutes." This announcement over the intercom is met with great praise from the passengers. Blatantly subdued by my culture's standards but incredibly enthusiastic to Japanese sensibilities.

_'Wow, I may have read every book I could get my hands on about their culture, but to actually experience this controlled calmness is another thing entirely.'_ A sigh escapes my lips as I uncross my legs for the hundredth time during this particular flight alone. My brow furrows as this dreaded question rears its ugly head again in my mind – _'Why have I not felt that same connection amongst these people that I had back home miles away from this land and the people? Maybe I only have this connection with Japan's history. No that's not true, I only had this connection with its legends. When I read a story about youkai or looked at a picture of one I would feel drawn to it like it was the other half of my soul – especially those tales about…**NO!** I will not go down that road again…well at least not right now.'_

I start rummaging through my backpack trying to find a cd I haven't listened to in the last twelve hours. _'Aha' _I mentally congratulate myself on finding a cd of my favorite Coors songs. So I pop it into my cd player put my headphones on and listen to the soothing sounds of one of the best Irish bands ever.

I mentally groan upon hearing the first wail of the guitar, _'So much for music distracting me from my hopeless romanticism. This song never fails to bring my mystery man to mind in all his masculine glory…Grrrrrrr…but its one of my favorites and I never can say no to this particular daydream.'_ So I close my eyes and lose myself in the song as the image of a tall sinewy man wraps his strong arm around me.

_Runaway_

_Say it's true, there's nothing like me and you_

_I'm not alone, tell me you feel it too_

_And I would run away_

_I would run away with you_

_Cause I am falling in love with you_

_No never I'm never gonna stop_

_Falling in love with you_

_Close the door, lay down upon the floor_

_And by candlelight, make love to me through the night_

_Cause I have run away_

_I have run away with you_

_Cause I am falling in love with you_

_No never I'm never gonna stop_

_Falling in love with you..._

The jerky movements of the plane rips me from my daydream and back into reality. I mentally groan _'how long was I lost in that fantasy'_ I wonder as I quickly shove my stuff back into my backpack. I rub my hands together to dispel the feeling of my imaginary lover's silky strands flowing through my fingers.

Finally the plane comes to a stop and I get up with the rest of the passengers, my backpack and carryon bag in hand as I walk through the terminal into my new life.

While trying to pick out my surrogate family from the eager crowd hovering around the terminal I grab the rest of my bags from the conveyer belt. Immediately I spy my name, TARA O'CONNER, hastily scrawled on a small sign held high above the sea of black heads. Rushing forward I embrace the Higurashi branch of my clan for the first time.

Smiling widely I hug all three of them at once since I easily tower over them a good five inches or more. "I'm so glad to finally meet you" I say as I release them from my spontaneous bear hug.

Speaking directly to Mrs. Higurashi I bow saying, "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay with your family while I look for my own place."

"Of course your welcome to stay with us my dear!" She exclaims after returning my bow. "Your Mother and father have been so generous over the past years since my late husband's death that this is the least I could do to repay their kindness. Now let's get your bags and go home."

"Yeah" reaching down to pickup my bags, "I'll probably have to sign some special papers or something just to get Bran off the plane."

"So you couldn't get rid of the guard dog" my cousin Kagome says to me with a conspiratol wink

With a knowing smirk I reply, "Like you could yours. I'm surprised he's not here protecting you from the giant metal birds."

Before Kagome could reply her younger brother Souta interrupts our friendly banter, "We didn't want to scare you with a crazy hanyou, so we decided to lock him in Kag's so he'd only have that room to destroy instead of the whole house."

"Souta!" screams Kagome as she hits him upside his head for talking about her boyfriend like he was temperamental dog.

Mrs. Higurashi turns around and gives her children the 'shape up or ship out' look, which has the desired effect upon the two siblings.

"Tara, I've already spoken with the authorities and arranged for Bran to be transported via a small truck so he should be arriving at the shrine within the hour."

"Good. I hope that sedative is still working, an agitated Irish Wolfhound is definitely not something I want the deliverymen to have to deal with."

"Oh! Like Inuyasha when he use to have to wait for Kags to come home from school?" questions Souta.

"Ug" Kagome pales at the remembrance of the irate hanyou, "Well it's a good thing we left Inuyasha behind so he could help the deliverymen pacify him. He's always been very good with dogs – I guess that just comes from being part inuyoukai."

"Yeah it does help, but Bran won't relax 'till I'm in his sight. Father specifically told him that I am not to be left unattended for even a moment and he always does exactly what my Father tells him to do. Yep, he's definitely the perfect guardian for Daddy's little girl" I say as we finally reach the Higurashi's car.

Mrs. Higurashi pop's the trunk and I stuff all my worldly possessions inside it. Driving out of the airport parking lot and onto the highway I lean over to Kagome telling her that we'll start training tomorrow. She responds with feigned disgust, but I can tell she's excited to start honing her skills.

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2 Conversations

11

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha that privilege belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own Tara O'Connor and her dog Bran.

This Chapter is dedicated to the lovely Morwen Re who was the first person to review this story. And thank you to everyone whose reviewed my story it's given me the much needed added incentive to get this chapter finished as soon as possible.

Chapter 2 – Conversations

Driving through the crowded city after leaving the airport, my cousin and I start discussing various topics while Souta plays with his video game and Mrs. Higurashi listens to the radio.

With a puzzled expression my cousin turns to me and asks, "Explain to me again why your Father demanded that you bring your dog with you?"

Sighing, "It's an old inuyoukai tradition that when an unmated female ventures away from the pack she must be accompanied by a male from the pack as a sign that she is still under the pack's protection." I continue my explanation as I turn slightly to give my cousin my full attention, "it also means that if a male wishes to make me his mate than he must first beseech my Father for permission to court me."

After a moment my cousin speaks, "Well…that makes sense. But why not send one of your brothers with you…" she starts.

"Oh hell no!" I interrupt her with disgust plainly written across my face. "I'd never attract a man with one of those hulking brutes scarring off every potential suitor. At least with the dog I have a **chance **of actually meeting a potential mate." To prove my point I bring up a particularly annoying instance of their overprotectiveness. "My date for the Senior Prom practically pissed himself because of the murderous looks they kept giving him when he came to pick me up. I swear those guys would like nothing better than for me to end-up as an old maid." I say with a sour frown etched across my face.

My cousin starts laughing at my expression "Awwww…but you're their baby sister, you can't blame them for wanting to protect you".

I turn to her with a 'I can and I will' expression.

'_I'm sick of talking about the overprotective males in my family.'_

"So tell me Kagome, how is your Quest for the Shikon no Tama going?"

Her cheerful countenance quickly morphs into one of almost painful seriousness.

Looking down at her hands she says, "It continues is about the best thing I can say about it. We're pretty sure that there are only a few more shards left that are still unclaimed by either us or Naraku." She looks up at me with a determined glint in her dark brown eyes, "I know that the final battle with Naraku will occur this year. And probably sooner than we expect."

The silence that ensues is stifling as we both reflect upon the future. My cousin breaks the oppressive silence with her innate ability to see the good in any situation, "That's why I'm so glad you're here, so you can help train me to be a better priestess and we can finally defeat Naraku."

She turns to me with a hopeful look in her eyes, "I still wish you'd reconsider joining us, Tara".

"It's not my quest Kags" I say while giving her the 'we've been here before' look.

"I know…" she says despondently "It's just the more people who standup against him the easier it will be to defeat him."

"Quests like these aren't meant to be easy" I look her straight in the eye "you know that."

"You're right Tara." She gives me a small smile and continues on a new topic, "I mean just look at my relationship with Inuyasha. We've had to overcome a lot to be where we are now." She looks out the window with a dreamy expression across her face.

For the next few minutes we sit there in companionable silence until the car turns a corner and the long awaited Higurashi Shrine comes into view. The sight of her home finally breaks my cousin's trance and she quickly leans over to me saying, "don't let Inuyasha's rude behavior upset you he's that way with everyone the first time he meets them."

Her quick speech leaves me slightly panicked as I try to make sense of her vague revelation. _'I hope she's not talking about what I think she's talking about! I do not want to get into a fight with her future mate the first time we meet.'_

As we arrived at the shrine I could see the truck caring my beloved guard dog right behind us. Stepping out of the car I see a man running down the shrine steps in a red haori and hakama with a very out of place baseball cap on his head. _'Hmmm…that must be Inuyasha. He must be covering his 'puppy ears' as Kagome likes to call'em, with that cap'._ He jumps over the last two steps and lands right in front of me and Kagome greeting me in a very aggressive inuyoukai manner by starring right into my eyes. Yet the rest of his body is calm and non-threatening as he gently hugs my cousin. _'So he's hiding his challenge to me from her…interesting…bad idea, but interesting non-the-less.'_

My cousin turns to me and starts introducing us.

"Inuyasha this is my cousin Tara O'Conner. Tara this is my fiancé Inuyasha"

Neither of us bow, we're too busy locked in a staring contest to remember proper human etiquette. My eyes saying – 'If you want me to defer to you, Inuyasha, you're going to have to do more than just stare me down – **I don't back down without a fight!**'

His stare showing his acceptance of the inevitable fight and promising that he won't go easy on me either.

Our staring contest was interrupted by the sound of the two deliverymen opening the back door of the truck, which was quickly followed by a low bone-chilling growl.

"Uh-oh…I better get in there before something bad happens" I say as I run over to the truck. _'Will continue this latter Inuyasha'_.

Climbing up the gangplank into the truck I call out to my distraught dog "Here I am Bran, safe and sound." A happy whine is his reply followed by a gruff bark. "Don't worry boy I'm getting the key out as we speak, you'll be out of that cage in no time." I reach in my Jeans' pocket for the key. Pulling it out I move over to the lock and release my old hound dog. Immediately he starts sniffing me all over checking my health. _'The things I put up with for family'_ I silently bemoan my fate. Once he judges that no harm has befallen me during his incarceration he happily licks my face in a friendly inu greeting. "Ok, Bran that's enough" I say after the fifth time he's licked my face. Rising I say "Come on" and wave my arm motioning for him to follow me out of the truck, "Let's get out of here". So with my big black dog behind me we walk out of the truck.

The first thing I notice is Inuyasha carrying my bags up the stairs to the house. I smirk at the sight _'I wonder if it was Mrs. Higurashi or Kagome who made him do that.'_

I bring my arms above me head for a full body stretch. I look down to see Bran stretching out his tight muscles, making him look about ten feet long. "I don't know about you Bran but I sure need a good run after traveling for the last three days." He replies with his signature doggie smile as we simultaneously eye the sharp incline of the numerous shrine steps. Immediately we start running up the stairs, with Bran taking four at a time. At the top there is a wonderful view of the layout of the shrine.

The first thing I notice is how much land the shrine covers. _'It probably covers an area of about a quarter of a mile'_ I think. Several small buildings surround a large courtyard. I recognize a few of the buildings from Kagome's letters, the first being her house to the left. I also notice to my far right the large Goshinbuko tree (god tree) where Inuyasha was pinned to for fifty years. Straight ahead in the distance is the well house with a line of trees marking the edge of the small forest behind it. _'Even from this distance I can sense the magic emanating from it.' _

My cousin's voice shakes me from my thoughts, "Excuse me, what did you say Kagome?" I ask while pulling the scrunchie out of my hair.

"Can I pet your dog?" She asks looking longingly at his big floppy ears.

Grinning slightly at her expression, "Sure, just bring your hand up for him to sniff you." Kagome slowly brings her hand up to his nose. As he starts sniffing I speak in a strong commanding tone, "Bran this is my cousin Kagome. She is a dear **friend** of mine and I expect you to protect her as you would any other member of my family." He barks his understanding and licks my cousin's hand in greeting. Immediately my cousin laughs and starts rubbing behind his ears with a gleeful expression on her face.

I chuckle at the sight _'looks like my cousin has an ear fettish'_.

Right then a very irate hanyou makes his presence known.

"Quit rubbing that dog's ears!" He says as he stomps over to his fiancé.

She gives him an innocent look "I'm just saying hello to him, Inuyasha".

Snorting his disbelieve at her statement, he starts to turn away from her.

"But your ears are so much softer than his," she says softly as she takes his cap off and starts slowly rubbing his right ear, "I'd much rather rub them". He immediately calms down.

'_I'm impressed, she handled him like a pro.'_

I watch them for a few moments, silently laughing at Inuyasha's blissful expression. "I'll just leave you two love birds alone, I need to unpack my suitcases anyway."

This draws my cousin from her ear rubbing session to look at me with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Oh I'm so sorry Tara, where are my manners, I'll show you to your room. Besides," she steps over to me and gives me a knowing wink as she whispers, "I have to catch you up on some stuff since my last letter."

Narrowing my eyes at her whispered words I nod my head slightly. _'I just got her letter a week and a half ago, what could have happened since then?'_

We walk into the house with her hanyou and my dog in tow. The first thing I notice upon entering her home is how modern it is yet still retaining a traditional appearance. To my right there is a western style living room where Souta is eagerly watching a very loud action packed TV show. Inuyasha maneuvers from behind us and quickly runs in there to watch the obviously very captivating TV show with Souta. Across from the living room is a small kitchen, where I see Mrs. Higurashi rubbing some seasoning into the flanks of steak for dinner.

"Do you need any help with dinner, Mom?" Kagome asks

"No honey I'm fine, besides" she winks at her daughter, "don't you have something important to tell your cousin?"

Right then we all heard this pitiful whine coming from my poor dog as he maneuvered his way around us to sit next to Mrs. Higurashi looking forlornly at the steaks a few inches away from his drooling mouth.

"No Bran, you can't have that" I say as he turns around giving me the 'puppy dog-sad-eyes look' "and don't you dare look at me like that" I say as I turn away before I give in to him.

"The dog foods in the laundry room down the hall, I already put a bowl of water there for him too" says Mrs. Higurashi with a small smile on her face.

I bow slightly "Thank you so much, I'll make sure he doesn't make a mess."

I grab his collar "Come on boy your dinner's down the hall" and literally drag him away from the delicious smelling beef.

After feeding my dog a large bowlful of dry food mixed with a can of gravy and meat chucks to make it more appealing, I follow Kagome upstairs to my new room.

Once inside I sit down on my bed while she quickly closes the door and turns to me with the biggest grin on her face. "All right, I was going to tell you the whole story first and then show you…but I can't wait!" She then extends her left hand out towards me and I look down to see a beautiful diamond ring adorning her ring finger. Immediately we both begin to squeal and hug each other.

"Oh my God! I'm so happy for you! Oh my God!" are the only words that can come out of my mouth for the next sixty seconds.

I take a moment to breath while my cousin situates herself next to me on the bed.

"Start from the very beginning and don't leave anything out" I tell her as I look her straight in the eye.

She starts gleefully recounting her tale to me.

"It was a week ago and we had been traveling hard all week looking for shards. When we woke-up Inuyasha told us to spend the day resting, which was a big surprise because we always have to beg him to stop and give us breaks during our travels. So there we were relaxing in the shade of a large pine tree when Inuyasha jumps down right in front of me. He practically couldn't look me in the eye when he asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with him…it was soooo cute, Tara! Of course I said yes and we started walking further into the dense forest. After a while we stopped and sat under the biggest cherry blossom tree I've ever seen. It was exquisite Tara! The ground was covered in pink petals and when the wind blew it felt like warm snow was falling on my skin. I was so captivated by the beautiful scenery that I didn't even notice what Inuyasha was doing 'til he said my name. When I looked down I saw him kneeling in front me with his hand outstretched towards me. Then he said "Kagome, will you marry me?" and then as I tried to speak, everything went black. I woke up to see the most distressed expression I've ever seen on his face. Obviously I fainted, which I've never done before, and the poor guy thought my fainting was a very negative reaction to his question, so he starts saying I don't have to marry him and just more nonsense like that. I pinched his ear to get his attention and told him 'Yes, of course I'll marry you'. I've never seen him so happy before in my life, but then he frowned and got a rather panicked look upon his face. You see when he caught me before I fell, he dropped the ring and for the next half hour he searched for it. I offered to help, but he was adamant that I sit and rest against the tree. After he found it he placed it on my finger with an almost reverent kiss."

Sigh…."That's such a sweet story," I hugged her again. "So when's the wedding?" I asked.

"This Spring, probably the middle of May" she said while gazing happily at her new ring.

A loud scratching sound and a low whine coming from the door interrupts our happy silence.

"Ug…that dog takes my Dad's orders way too seriously" I say as I get up to let a hulking 120 lb Irish Wolfhound into my room. He immediately starts sniffing around the room and after not finding anything threatening stretches his nearly three foot long frame out next to my bed and promptly goes to sleep.

Kagome smiles down at the sleeping brute and says "he's so cute and protective of you it reminds me of Inuyasha. So what do you think of him" she asks in a slightly guarded tone.

'_Oh boy…how to handle this as delicately as possible?'_

Looking down at my lap I start babbling "I haven't really gotten a chance to know him yet…I mean…it's not like we've even had a chance to talk to each other…so I don't know what to make of him yet." I look at my cousin through the corner of my eye and see all the tension drain away from her body.

With a loud sigh of relieve my cousin looks up at me "I'm so glad that you're not letting your first impression of him ruin your opinion of him. He always takes an overaggressive attitude when meeting new people and since I've told him that your proficient with several types of weapons he probably views you as a threat to his leadership in the pack."

After a moment's silence I nod "Well that makes sense, especially coupled with his difficult childhood you told me about in your letters. It's a wonder that he acts as civilly as he does."

We both silently reflect upon the life of an orphaned hanyou boy shunned by his family and left to fend for himself in the wild.

My cousin breaks the silence with a chuckle, "I thought he would have been more challenging to you on your first meeting. He usually is the first time he meets someone." She says jokingly as he reaches down to rub one of Bran's ears.

Her laughing tone startles me and I am left speechless as my brain tries to process this last bit of information. _'Oh my God! She doesn't know! We were barely a minute away from drawing blades. His greeting only allows me to respond in one of two way. Either I would submit to him right away by either averting my eyes and/or exposing my neck to him, or we take up arms to establish who is stronger.'_ I start to correct her when we hear the topic of our conversation shouting –

"If you women aren't down here in the next minute I'm going to start eating your steaks!"

At that remark we both look right at each other and start laughing uncontrollably.

"We better get down there before my Mother has to restrain him from making good on his threat" my cousin says through her laughter.

I lean over the side of the bed and playfully push my canine brute with my foot "Move Bran" his ears perk-up at my voice, "I **refuse** to make my cousin leap off the bed just because **you're** in our way."

He sighs loudly and slowly rises as he opens his large mouth for an impressive yawn and lopes lazily towards the door.

As we exit the room he spots a very large fur ball walking down the hall. All I heard was an ominous growl and a frightened hiss before chaos erupted. I immediately heard Kagome scream " Bran, stop! Don't kill him". Spying the cause of Kagome's distress I see the fattest cat I've ever seen dangling from my dog's mouth.

"No Bran" I shout "Friend not food!" I bare my teeth at him to show him I mean business. "Drop!"

He drops the cat and Kagome immediately grabs her cat and holds him tightly to her chest.

We barely begin to register what just happened when Inuyasha comes barreling into us.

"What the hell happened?" he shouts gathering a very distraught Kagome into his arms as he glares at me.

Looking him straight in the eye I admit my failing "It's my fault Inuyasha, I forgot to introduce Buyou to Bran. So when he saw the cat he thought he was fair game."

He narrows his eyes at me but decides to take care of his intended first and looks down at her as she begins to disentangle herself from his embrace.

"Are you all right Kagome?" his voice is heavily laced with concern.

"Yeah" she wipes a stray tear from her eye "I'm fine now. I should have thought about Buyou, but I was so excited about telling Tara about my engagement that I completely forgot". She turns to me and gives me an apologetic smile "so it's both our faults Tara, I'm sorry."

"Me too Kags" I say as we hug each other in a tight embrace.

"Is Buyou O.K. Kagome" I ask as I eye the shaking animal in her arms.

She starts looking him over and finding nothing physically wrong says, "yeah he's fine, just very frightened."

"Well if it's all right with you we still need to formally introduce Buyou to Bran so that this doesn't happen again" I say while motioning for her to bring Buyou over to me and the dog.

She nods her head and as she moves over to us I grab Bran by the back of the neck – immobilizing his head – and get right in his face, looking him squarely in the eye and say "Bran, you cannot attack this cat." I point to the fur ball curled-up in Kagome's arms. "His name is Buyou and he is Kagome's **friend**. You are **never** to harm him again. Do you understand?"

He blinks rapidly and replies with a high-pitched submissive whine.

"Good." I continue talking as I release his neck, "You will accompany us downstairs and will wait in the hallway while we eat with the rest of the family." He lowers his head in a sign of complete submission to my authority.

My cousin pauses for a moment trying to gather her thoughts, "There's no way I'm putting Buyou down now so I guess mama's going to just have to put-up with me eating dinner with Buyou in my lap."

"Finally we get to have dinner" whines a hungry hanyou from behind our backs.

All four of us descend to the kitchen and right before we enter it I command Bran to lay down in the hallway by the entrance to the kitchen.

"Girls, what happened upstairs and why are you carrying Buyou?" questions Mrs. Higurashi as we take our seats around the kitchen table.

Before I could speak Kagome answers her mother putting a comedic spin to the altercation as well, "We forgot to introduce Bran to Buyou and they had the typical cat and dog reaction when the met each other. Buyou is much too scared right now for me to put him down."

With a shocked expression she turns to me, "I hope that won't happen again Tara, we are all very attached Buyou."

"Don't worry Mrs. Higurashi, I made sure that Bran understands that he's not suppose to attack Buyou". I pause for a moment to cut my meat. "He usually doesn't attack cats but after the unfortunate incident at home, with one of Mrs. O'Leary's cats he's never been quite the same."

The conversation dies down as the family enjoys the delicious meal set before them.

After a delightful evening spent with my extended family I decide to take my leave of them for a much needed night's rest. As I walk down the hall towards my bedroom I see Inuyasha waiting for me by my door. I wearily approach him as I eye his deceptively relaxed posture as he leans his tall frame against the wall. "I'm too tired to fight you right now, Inuyasha. We can meet early tomorrow morning in the woods out back." As I open the door I look over my shoulder and curl my lips in a knowing smirk, "Do you want me to bring my sword?" As he gives me an abrupt nod I close the door behind me.

With a snort, Inuyasha turns to walk away thinking, _'I've got to get that woman under my command so she'll either go home or help with our quest. There can be only one leader in this pack. It's going to be me…It's got to be me. I don't see any other way for such an independent woman to fit into my plans. And I think she may just have some talents that will come in handy…very handy indeed.' _With a grin on his handsome face he saunters off to say a warm goodnight to his fiancé.

Please send me as many reviews as possible they really help motivate me to update as soon as possible! And if anyone is interested in beta editing my story please let me know in your review. Thanks sooo much you guys…hopefully I can have chapter 3 written by next weekend (I've already started chapter 4 and it's most likely going to be well over 10 pages long!)…but no promises…it takes time and many revisions to get a good chapter ready for y'all to read.


	3. Chapter 3 The Fight

10

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha that privilege belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own Tara O'Connor and her dog Bran.

Chapter 3 – The Fight

The sound of birds chirping accompanied by a loud snore slowly wakes me from my slumber. I silently curse those all too happy birds as their incessant chatter frustrate my attempts to return to the land of dreams. _'It's barely even light outside, why am I getting up again…oh yeah…stupid hanyou with his stupid challenge'_ I mumble in my mind as I roll out of bed right on top of the dog. I glare at the canine monstrosity as I untangle myself from sprawling on all fours in an undignified heap of pink limbs and fur. "Don't you dare give me that innocent look Bran. I know you laid there on purpose". Since I had to whisper at him it lost any power to phase him. He responds with a huff and goes right back to sleep. I take a few deep calming breaths and decide to ignore his rude behavior as I look out the window to see Inuyasha sleeping up high in the branches of the Goshinbuko tree. Yawning I make my way towards the bathroom to freshen-up before my meeting with him.

Returning to my room in a better mood than when I left, I quickly dress, adding weapons and armor to my apparel. I gather my short sword from my closet and begin to strap it on as I contemplate the best way to handle the upcoming confrontation with my cousin's fiancé. _'What do I need to do to pacify him without appearing as a weak woman? He takes his role as pack leader much more serious than any of the men in my family. It's as if he's judging whether I'm good enough to be in his pack…which is completely absurd since I'm already a member of his pack by blood. So what is his ulterior motive in demanding that we fight?_' I nudge Bran's head out of the way to get to the bed so I can sit down. While putting on my boots it finally dawns on me, _'He's challenging me so that he can force me to join their quest! By completely overpowering me it would naturally place me in the lowest position in the pack, and therefore I would be forced to obey his every command.'_ My face twists into a dark scowl as I consider ways to thwart his devious plan without revealing my special abilities. A loud thump from outside my window distracts me from plotting. Crawling over my bed to peer outside I see the object of my thoughts proudly walking towards the woods. Sitting back on my haunches I let out a loud sigh. _'I guess it's time to get a move on' _I think as I grab my small shield before exiting my room.

'_Feh…women, they're never on time for anything. Wait…'_ I shift my ear towards the light sound of a woman's footsteps accompanied by the heavier footsteps of a dog,_ 'Well I guess she's the exception to that rule.'_ Pivoting on my bare feet I turn towards her and am rather taken aback by her fierce appearance. On her left hip she carries a sword the like I have never seen. '_It looks like a tiny broadsword. She'll have to get in fairly close to her opponent for it to be effective at all. What is she going to fight with that – squirrels?' _

I then take in the unusual shield she wears on her left arm. It is a medium size rounded metal shield that covers her hand to her elbow. _'Hmmm…with that shield she might be able to do some damage with that short sword of hers'._

She walks over to me with a determined air about her, stopping about ten paces away and unsheathes her sword, saluting me before crouching into a fighting stance. _'Finally we can get down to business'_ I think as I raise my sword to her challenge. Gazing down at her I am impressed by her quiet self-assured demeanor. I notice here excellent footwork as we circle each other analyzing each other's style – looking for an opening, a weakness. Stepping quickly to my left I swing the flat side of my blade towards her chest – attempting to knock her on her pushy Irish butt. She counters this move by dancing lightly backwards and using her shield to force my sword up and over her shoulder. As she continues to stumble back she gives me a, 'is that all you got' look, and then warily starts circling me again. This time I grip the hilt of my sword with both hands and aim for her grinning face with the expectation that she will leap aside. I'm surprised when she bumps her blade under the tip of mine, causing it to rise, then uses her shield to lift it up and out of the way. She scurries in close punching me hard in the stomach with the hilt of her sword and only then does she leap away. I nod in acknowledgement of the hit. She's still grinning but a little more warily than before. We circle fully around twice before clashing swords causing the clearing to resonate with the loud clang from the steel of two determined competitors. We continue to battle with neither gaining an upper hand until, with brute strength, I knock her blade to her left banging it into her shield arm – leaving her open to a heavy stinging slap from the flat of my blade to her right thigh. Limping back, she straightens lowering her sword and breathlessly says,

"Well done…I have the feeling you could have done that a lot earlier."

"I could" I say hesitantly. _'Is this an unusual approach to cause me to lower my guard for a sneak attack?'_ I silently wonder as she continues to speak.

"So do we really need to continue this?" She asks as she lowers her sword to the ground. "Isn't it obvious that you are the stronger swordsman." She wipes some sweat off her brow, "I got in one good blow only because you are unfamiliar with my style of dueling, but I'm sure if this had been a serious confrontation you would never have let me get in that close." She looks me squarely in the face and asks, "So what now?"

I was momentarily shocked by her subtle declaration of submission to my superiority. _'What the hell happened?'_ I think quickly as I realize that she has by, quickly conceding the fight she has thwarted my plans to force her into aiding our quest.

"What the hell are you talking about, woman? The way Kags bragged about you I thought you'd give me more trouble than this. Huhu…guess she was wrong?" I say trying to goad her back into the fight.

But then I see her eyes flare up in the same 'you've crossed the line and now you're going to pay for it' look as I have often seen in my mate's eyes and realize, _'Wrong move!'_ I quickly try to defuse the situation by asking her, "Will you show me your weapons?"

She nods and walks over to me lifting that strange yet rather effective weapon to her chest.

"My father actually designed this sword specifically for me." She says as she hands me the sword. "It's similar to a Roman short sword. And as you've seen" she smirks up at me "It can be very effective when used in close."

I glare at her at the slight insult as I take in the makings of the sword. The hilt is wrapped in some coarse scaly material that grips surprisingly better than my leather wrapped hilt. It ends in an intricately carved ball in the shape of a strange circular cross. The blade of the sword is like a large dagger, with both sides sharpened and the tip of it sharply angled into a large point. It has dual blood grooves running down the center of it as well. Between these grooves is engraved an elaborate knotwork design that runs from hilt to tip. Seeing me stare at the design she tells me, "My sister engraved that. She designed and engraved the artwork for both my sword and shield." At that remark she releases her shield and hands it over to my waiting hand. To be honest I was rather excited to examine her shield after seeing how effective she used it was in combat and came to the conclusion that Sango would appreciate having a shield like this. As I noted earlier it is a medium sized rounded shield made of shiny metal, (probably that new metal 'steel' that Kags told me about) but up close I could see the bulge in the center and four engraved spokes coming from it engraved with a rope-like knotwork pattern. Looking at the back, I was not surprised to see the well protected place for her arm. It would shield her from the most powerful blows. But what truly caught my attention that I had not noticed during our fight was a black rubbery ring that encased the edge of her shield. As I start to finger the strange material she says, "That's a protective barrier I use when I'm sparring with a live opponent. Let me show you what my shield is really capable of in actual combat" she says as she peels the rubber ring off revealing a sharpened edge to the front of the shield next to where her hand would be located.

"That looks extremely lethal" I say as I lightly rub my thumb over the edge causing me to bleed slightly. "Did you design this?" I ask as I quickly lick my thumb to close the wound with my healing saliva. "Partially, me and Dad worked on it together. I told him what I'd like in a shield and he took it from there" she told me with a small smile lighting her face as she ran her fingers lovingly over its worn surface. A slight breeze wafts over us as I detect the faint scent of Jasmine and Water Lilies coming towards us. I hand back Tara's weapons so I can give my intended a proper greeting. I surprise her as she come into the small clearing by grabbing her from the side in a strong bear hug. I nuzzle her neck taking in the wonderful scent that is uniquely hers _'No one smells as good as my Kagome'_ I think as she giggles from my nose tickling that sensitive area behind her ear.

"Inuyasha" her soothing voice brings me back to reality "can you put me down" she says as I finally notice her dangling several inches off the ground.

I smirk at her "Whatever my fiancée wants" I whisper in her ear causing the desired effect of a pinkish hue to tinge her cheeks. _'I just love doing that to her'_ I think as I gently set her down.

"So what have you two been doing?" she asks as she eyes Tara's weapons.

"I thought I'd see how good a fighter your cousin is…she's not bad." I say as I give Tara a 'she doesn't need to know everything we were doing' look, that she reciprocates readily enough. "You should take a look at her shield. I think Sango would appreciate something like that in combat" I tell her as Tara walks over to us handing over her shield for Kagome's inspection.

She looks over it but her attention is soon taken up by the intricate design carved into it. _'Feh…leave it to women to be more enamored with the pretty designs on a weapon than the more important lethal qualities of it.'_ I think as the two women continue their discussion.

"…So your sister actually etched these by hand."

"Yeah, she's a very talented artist, always has been" she says with pride in her voice. "So when do you want to start your training?"

Sighing, "Let's start after breakfast". She turns to me with a brilliant smile upon her face and asks me "Inuyasha can you put up the targets for our archery practice while we go have breakfast?" I nod my head and as she walks past me she tweaks my ear in a silent thank you.

'_I am such a pushover'_ I think as a grudgingly walk over to the shed to retrieve the targets for their training.

"All right let's start with the basics" I tell my cousin as we walk past the well house. "What special object did you bring to help you control your powers?" I ask as we step into the woods.

She reaches into her blouse and lovingly holds up a wooden pendant in the shape of a Celtic Cross. "My father made this for me when I was born so I'd always be protected. I always wear it 'cause it makes me feel like his spirit is still with me and therefore nothing bad can happen to me," she tells me with a wistful tinge to her words.

"Can I touch it?" I ask as I look at it closely.

"O.K." she says as she takes the necklace off and places it reluctantly in the palm of my hand.

Immediately I feel a warm aura that is strangely familiar to me. I call upon my spiritual powers to analyze the essence that surrounds the pendant. With respectful admiration I tell my cousin, "Strangely enough you've already known what makes this cross so special." She gives me a confused look so I continue "When your father made this he actually attached part of his essence – his soul – to it, practically putting a spell of protection upon it" I tell her as I gently pass it back to her.

"Wow! I had no idea it actually held such power" she says as she replaces it 'round her neck. "So my father actually has been protecting me this whole time" she says with a heart stopping smile spreading across her face. "Wait" she says suddenly with a deep frown upon her lips "Can I still use it if it contains my father's spirit?"

"Most definitely." I say quickly trying to alleviate her negative thoughts. "In fact it will work even better since it contains a familiar spirit that has always aided you in times of need."

We enjoy a companionable silence for the next few minutes 'til we arrive in the small clearing where Inuyasha and I had battled earlier.

Eyeing the targets set up in the distance I tell my cousin to prepare her bow and arrow to shoot.

"Now before you release the arrow I want you to focus on your powers, once you can feel them I want you to focus on the pendant – call on your father's spirit that's housed within the pendant." I tell her as I walk around her making sure her stance is correct. I push her left arm down just a bit to align the arrow in the very center of the bull's eye. Taking in her furrowed brow and clenched jaw muscles I tell her, "Relax Kagome. You're trying too hard. Remaining calm is an important step in learning how to use your powers, so I want you to remember every happy memory you have of your father – let those warm protective emotions that they inspire in the pendant help calm and guide you in focusing your powers." I can see the stress lifting from her body as she listens to my words.

"Good. Now I want you to **slowly** filter your powers through the pendant, - just a small amount for right now. Feel the control that the filtering gives you Kagome." I step back away from her as I say "Center your released powers onto the tip of your arrow and let it fly."

Immediately a blue glow encases the arrow tip as it sails through the air striking dead center with in the target.

"Ahhhh! I can't believe I did it!" screams my cousin as she looks in utter amazement at her arrow lodged directly in the bull's eye.

"Not bad" I say while grinning at her lively antics, "If I didn't know better I'd think you'd been doing this for the past five years." She punches me lightly in the arm for my teasing comment.

"Hey, that's the first time I've been able to use my powers in practice like that. The only times I've been able to use my powers like that has been in battle when I have a surge of adrenalin pumping through my system." She pauses in her tirade and with a serious expression upon her face looks me squarely in the eye and says, "I've **never** experienced such control over my powers, Tara." She gives me a genuine smile as she thanks me for helping her master her powers.

I fend off her exuberant gratitude with a lazy smile, "Eh…what are cousins for."

Laughing lightly at my small quip she starts to pull out another arrow from her quiver, but changes her mind as she looks over at me with a mischievous grin lighting up her face. "Since you've been training with your powers for years I'd love to see what you're capable of, Tara?"

"You want a full demonstration or a small one like what you did?" I ask as I step away from her and reach behind me for an arrow.

While she taps her fingers against her chin in a thoughtful manner, I am already preparing my body to release my powers as I nock my arrow.

"Well…as long as you don't blow anything up, I say…go for it." And with that my body erupts in brilliant white flames as I let lose my arrow straight for the target's center – shattering her arrow in the process.

I turn around and start laughing at the sight of my cousin doing the best imitation of a dead fish I've ever seen as her mouth hangs wide open and her eyes practically bulge out of her face, while she stares at the few remnants of her arrow dangling 'round mine.

My laughter quickly pulls her out of her stupor and she continues her impersonation of a fish as she opens her mouth several times to speak but without success. Finally after my loud laughter has died down to a soft chuckle, she is able to compose herself enough to blurt out, "That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. How were you able to be engulfed by your powers like that? Can I do that?"

"Well to answer your first question" I start as I walk over to the target to retrieve my arrow, "When I was meditating on my spirituals powers as a young child, I discovered how to tap into the powers of my inuyoukai and sidhe blood. You see, I'm the only one in my father's family in centuries who's been able to unlock the power in that part of our blood. So because of my unique ability to understand how my body operates and how to manipulate it I decided to use my own being as a conduit for filtering my power. Which is probably why my powers engulf my body when I fully utilize them like I just did" I finish explaining as I put the arrow back in my quiver.

"So that's a 'no' on me being able to do that too" my cousin says trying to lighten the mood after my astonishing display and explanation of my abilities. "You must be able to do some impressive things if you're able to tap into inuyoukai and sidhe powers."

"Yeah I can, but I've never really needed to so I'm not sure what my limit is" I say as I return to stand next to her. "Come on now, this is supposed to be your training session, not mine. Let's see if that last performance of yours was a fluke or not."

She gives me the stink eye as she aligns her arrow properly before nocking it, then draws the string back and concentrates for a moment before letting it go sending the arrow in a flurry of blue light towards the target.

"Well…it looks like you've got a handle on your powers, but your aim needs some work" I point out as I stare at the arrow lodged almost an arm's length away from the bull's eye. "Concentrating on everything at once must become second nature to you. In a true life or death situation you can not afford to ruin your effectiveness by being easily distracted. Repeat everything you did but this time I'll show you what you did wrong." She gets into position and I spend the rest of the morning perfecting her proper archery techniques as well as correcting some of her bad habits.

"Hey Kagome, I'd like to spend some time at the well house before you show me around Tokyo" I say as we finish a quick lunch.

"Sure, Tara. Just don't take too long I've got a lot planned for us to do before I have to go back to the Feudal Era" she says cheerfully.

"O.K." and with that I beat a hasty retreat to the mysterious well house that had been quietly calling to me since I arrived.

I nervously open the solid wooden door wide enough to ease myself through. Then wedging a rock in the jamb, I ensure myself plenty of light to see into the inky darkness. Stepping down into the well house my senses are suddenly assaulted by the sweet stench of mold causing me to sneeze vigorously several times before my olfactory system adapts and allows me to continue into the shadows without further distress. Reaching the well itself, I begin to lightly trace the wooden rim with my fingertips. I feel a tingle of raw energy where my skin makes contact. _'This is incredible! I've never felt an object with such archaic power attached to it,' _I silently wonder. I let my thoughts drift by as I begin meditating by pacing – thereby freeing my mind while my body is engaged in physical activity. _'It feels like my sidhe powers but at the same time it doesn't. I **know** it wants to tell me something, so how am I supposed to communicate with it?'_ I think quietly to myself. _'Perhaps if I just let my sidhe blood rise to the surface the answer will present itself.' _With quiet determination I decide to lay my cards on the table and see what fate has planned for me. I begin to concentrate on my spiritual powers, using them to slowly unlock my sidhe blood. As I feel the power begin to gently open to me, it is violently jerked out all at once by the ancient power. I crumple to the ground gasping for air as the powers pulsate through my veins, enveloping my entire being in a blinding white light. I am left momentarily disoriented and slowly blink my eyes a few times as I begin to regain control of my body. _'Well I guess that's one reason why I never let all my sidhe power out at once'_ a soft chuckle invades my senses and I quickly raise my head to see the incredible sight of a golden hued figure leaning against the well. It is a mass of glowing energy in a basic humanoid shape yet devoid of any discernible features. _'It looks like something out of an old Star Trek episode'_ is my befuddled mind's only intelligible thought.

'_What is this Star Trek?' _

My breath catches in my throat, _'Oh my God! It can hear my thoughts!'_ I realize trying not to panic but quickly failing.

'_Stop rambling Priestess'_ commands the being's voice inside my mind _'I am not a sinister spirit or some other evil being. I am a messenger from the gods sent here to tell you what you need to know before you are called to fulfill your destiny.'_

'_Huh…what…destiny?'_ is my garbled reply and I swear I could see the figure visibly sigh at my verbal repartee.

'_All I can tell you is that you must be ready at a moments notice to answer our call that you are needed on the other side of the well.' _He begins to fade away as I suddenly gain a bit of clarity and call out to him, _'Wait!'_ but he has already vanished from this realm. I then notice that he was not the only one glowing as I take in the sight of my own body emitting a faint white glow. _'This just gets weirder by the minute'_ I think as I begin reining in my sidhe powers. Once they're safely locked away again I slowly standup only to fall down as a wave of dizziness hits me. _'I guess using that much power effected me more than I thought'_ as I lay back down on the cool floor to rest for a few minutes while my body recuperates. But my rest is soon interrupted by a certain dog-eared man.

"Hey, what are you doing sleeping on the dirty floor?" questions a gruff Inuyasha.

Cracking open an eye at the red clad irritant making his way down the stairs, I decide to give him a partial answer. "I had an altercation with the power that surrounds the well. Suffice it to say it whooped my ass."

"Well that's obvious" he says as he reaches over and more gently than I would have thought grabs my arm and helps me rise. "So did anything else happen, aside from getting a bruised ass" he says snickering at his own joke.

I don't even bother to glare at him for his immature jibe, "I met a messenger from the gods who told me to be ready at a moments notice for a call telling me I'm needed on the other side of the well."

He gives me a dubious look, "Was this before or after you hit your head?"

I narrow my eyes at him in a penetrating look, causing him to frown and flatten his ears. Speaking with restrained anger, "Quite frankly Inuyasha, I couldn't care less if you believe me or not. I know what I must do and I intend to do it." And with that I gracefully march up the stairs.

Well I hope y'all enjoyed that as much as I did…and if you did please let me know in your review **(the more I get the sooner chapter 4 will be posted) **But since I like to have every kink worked out of my chapters it will still take about 2 weeks for me to write it – but it's going to be wonderful and I know y'all will love it! Sesshoumaru should be appearing in all his fluffiness in either chapter 4 or 5 – depending how I want to break up the scenes.


	4. Chapter 4 The Storm

10

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha that privilege belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own Tara O'Connor and her dog Bran.

Chapter 4 – The Storm

Late afternoon sunlight seeps through the window as I lie in bed trying to recapture the beautiful dream I had been enjoying. _'Hmmm…a delicious warmth is all I can remember.'_ Groaning, I rub my eyes dispelling the last remnants of sleep. _'That was a pleasant nap, but I better get up before I waste the rest of the day.'_ With that thought I struggle to extricate myself from the mummy-like wrapping of the sweaty bed sheets. Twisting to and fro, I eventually roll out of my bed, landing with a loud 'thud' upon the hard ground, in a floundering heap of tangled limbs and clingy white sheets. With a disgruntled groan I finally free myself from the cotton deathtrap, flicking my foot to the side in an attempt to remove the last persistent scrap of sticky white fabric still adhered to my ankle. Stretching to my full height, and sporting a triumphant smile, I proudly stride towards the bathroom for a nice hot shower.

Stifling back a yawn, I lean over the bathtub to turn on the hot water. I take my clothes off and step into the steamy waterfall. As the water cascades over my head I reach for the bottle of shampoo. Pouring a copious amount into my palm I start to wash my long locks. _'Hmmm…I can't believe it's already the middle of February. It just doesn't seem like I've been here for only three weeks. Kagome has really progressed in her training. She'll definitely be able to hold her own against any foe now. _Letting the rushing water rinse the suds out of my hair I continue contemplating, '_I'm so glad I don't have to put-up with Inuyasha for the next few days since Kagome decided to take him with her and the family to Kyoto to help out with her cousin's wedding. _I reach for the bottle of conditioner and pour a thick glob. '_It's not that I hate him…so much as I just can't stand that little prick! If he could just get rid of that damned inferiority complex of his he wouldn't be that bad of a guy, but no, he constantly has to prove himself.' _I roughly rub the conditioner into my red hair, massaging those bitter thoughts out of my mind. _'I wonder what this 'destiny' is that the messenger mentioned? _Mentally snorting, '_I could dream up a million scenarios and I still wouldn't be able to come up with the right one._ Banishing the troublesome thought, I retreat under the soothing rush of warm water, '_At least I've got my satchel packed with all the gear I could possibly need in the Feudal Era. I have it hanging in the well house along with my sword belt and shield.'_

After turning off the shower, I reach for a towel to wrap around my hair and then another one to wrap around my body. I step out of the tub, and leisurely walk back to my room. Sitting on the bed, I begin rubbing vanilla scented lotion on my arms and legs, letting its magical scent calm my strained emotions. Strolling over to my dresser, I rummage through it trying to decide on what I should wear; I finally settle upon jeans and a long sleeved dark blue T-shirt. It's only 40°F outside today, which is unusually cold for this time of year. _'I think I'll practice my archery before the sun sets."_ Quickly exiting the room and walking down the stairs and into the kitchen, I grab an apple and a banana for a quick mid-afternoon snack. At the backdoor I stuff the fruit into my coat pocket while grabbing my bow and quiver full of arrows. I walk out of the house, heading for the woods out back.

As I pass by the well house I sense the ancient power floating heavily in the air. _'It's so thick I can practically see it…I wonder if it's going to call me soon? I decide to call Bran to my side in case I have to move quickly.' _Swiveling my head toward the Goshinbuko Tree _'Ahhhh…there he is, sleeping the day away.'_ My lips twitch into a bemused smile at the sight of the monstrous black hound slumbering in the shade of the massive tree.

'_What was that?'_ my breath catches in my throat as the well calls out to my powers – making me almost stumble from its intensity. _'Oh my God! Someone is screaming for help on the other side of the well. I can feel the magic demanding my presence.'_ "Bran!" he lifts his head and perks up his ears at my urgent cry, "Come on boy, it's time to go to work." With speed I haven't seen him use since he was a pup, he gallops after me as I run to well house.

I thrust the heavy wooden door open just as Bran barrels over to my side. I quickly make my way down the stairs but before I leap into the well I secure my blades to my hip and sling my leather satchel over my shoulder. I turn towards the well and begin to climb onto the rim when Bran growls and grabs my arm gently in his jaws in an attempt to prevent me (in his mind) from jumping to my death. "Let go, Bran" he shakes his head – along with my arm - and starts to tug me away from the well. I cry out at his overprotective behavior, "I'm not trying to kill myself Bran" and glare at him as I grab his muzzle to physically extract my arm from between his teeth. "I'm jumping into the well whether you like it or not" I finally maneuver my arm from his grasp and before he can grab hold of me again I leap into the dry well. I look back when I hear Bran whining overhead. Amazingly, it seems to a take a long time to reach the bottom, as I find myself floating down the well as the archaic magic spirals 'round my body. I can no longer hear Bran's whimpering just as my feet touch the bottom of the ancient pit. The first difference I notice is the chilling cold and the snowflakes falling lazily 'round me.

'_The first order of business is to get out of here'_ I think as I start to climb up the rope ladder that Kagome had Inuyasha put there to help anyone using the well when no one was to around to help get them out.

'_I am **so** glad I have my coat on otherwise I would truly be in trouble right now.'_ Nearing the top of the well I hear the muffled wails of a crying child. Grasping the edge with my hands I finally fall gracelessly over the top next to her.

Regaining my equilibrium I place a comforting hand on her shoulder saying, "Hey…what's wrong?" She just continues to bawl her little eyes out as if I hadn't spoken. Maternal instincts, that I didn't even know I had, must have kicked in because I was hugging her and stroking her back before I realized I had even moved. "Shhhhuuuusssshhhh…don't cry little one, everything will be all right, I'm here now." She seems to calm down some after a short while and through her sorrow-filled hiccups she begins telling me her sad little tale.

"Ah Un's…'sniffle'…dead" she whispers into my chest. "He died…protecting…me". My arms tighten around her. I quickly look all around judging whether we are still in danger, but all I see is snow and emptiness.

"He must have been a very brave man to give up his life for you."

The girl looks up at me with a slightly bewildered expression in her puffy red eyes. "Ah Un was not a man…'hiccup'…he was a dragon" she slowly stammers out.

"Ohhh…my mistake" I sat quietly trying to keep the shock out of my eyes. _'All right, think Tara how can I distract her before she goes completely into shock! The mundane that's right! Get her talking about normal everyday stuff so she doesn't feel completely overwhelmed by her friend's death. Introductions are always a good start.' _

"My name's Tara. What's yours?"

"My name's Rin" she replies softly.

"That's a pretty name. Where do you live, Rin?"

"We were in a cave far away waiting for Sesshoumaru-sama and Jaken-san to come back…but…'her bottom lip begins to quiver'…that's far away from here…and…'her eyes start tearing'…I'll never get back in time before the storm arrives!" She hides her face in my chest again.

Rocking her gently and whispering soothing words to her, I contemplate my next move. _'I can sense that the well won't let us pass back through so that's not an option. Wait! She said "I'll never get back in time before the storm _arrives_"…surely this child doesn't **actually** think I'd abandon her! _

"Rin, honey," trying to imitate my Mother when she tried to reason with me as a child, I firmly state, "You are not alone and **we** will find your other companions when the storm has passed over. But first I need your help. Can you help me, Rin?"

She slowly lifts her head and looking straight into my eyes, nods her head. I see a hopeful bud of determination slowly growing in her sad dark brown eyes.

"Good. Now we need to find some shelter or make it ourselves." I wipe the tears off her cheeks, "Do you know anything about these woods, Rin? Is there a village nearby or even an abandoned hunting lodge?"

She shakes her head, "I've never seen this forest before".

Sighing _'That would have been too easy'. _ I look up to the sky _'Those clouds are thick and just full of snow…we don't have much time before the bottom falls out. I hope the wind doesn't pick-up…I'm not sure we'd survive that too.'_ "Come on Rin" pulling her up with me as I stand, "We've got to find some sticks, and anything else we can think of to make a shelter by the well to keep us safe during the storm."

Surveying the forest, I notice a large fallen tree. "I think what we need may be over there" I say, pointing to my left. When I grab the little girl's hand I am shocked. It feels like a block of ice. That's when I notice her whole body shivering from the cold. "Oh my God! Rin, you're freezing!" I open my neck scarf out wide and wrap it around her shoulders like a shawl, crossing it over her chest and tucking it into her obi in back. Then I reach into my pocket hoping that my gloves are there. _'Yes!' _I mentally congratulate myself as I pull out my nice leather gloves. "Here Rin." She takes them from my hand with a quizzical expression on her face. "I know they're too big for you but put them on anyway, they'll keep you warm." _'Why is she staring at them like some strange, foreign object?'_ "Ohhh honey I'm sorry, let me show you how to put them on." The Velcro strap used to keep the glove tight to my wrist has obviously not been invented yet. I grab one of them and release the strap, slip it on and then reseal it. A light-bulb (or its medieval equivalent) appears to go off in her head and for the first time since I met her her face lights up. _'She's really cute when she smiles,' _I think as I hand the glove back to her.

"Arigatou Tara-san" she says softly as she puts the gloves on her little hands.

"Come on, we don't have time to dawdle" I say as I grab her now bulky hand, quickly leading her toward the felled tree.

Reaching the log, I take a moment to scrutinize it, evaluating every possible way it could be used in constructing a shelter for us. The tree had obviously fallen a few months earlier before winter set in because most of it's leaves were still attached to it's branches. It was a fairly large tree as the three feet width of it's trunk testifies to, but when it fell a large portion of the top cracked off, which was no longer there as I could see the track marks in the ground where it had been dragged away. That left about twenty feet of tree for me to use.

"Rin." The girl jumps out of her melancholic trance and looks up at me. "I want you to gather as many leaves as you can. Scrape off the top snowy layer and get the dry ones underneath. I know they'll be dirty, but that's alright. We're going to use them to make a dry floor for our hut. Oh, and please gather some firewood too."

She vigorously nods her head and starts picking-up the dead leaves around the fallen tree.

'_All right she's taken care of…now I've got to find a way to chop up this tree into four ten foot long poles, then chop off some of the longer branches so I can weave them in between the poles once they're leaning up against the well in a makeshift shack._' Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and begin to focus on my spiritual powers; calling on them to awaken my Sidhe blood. I can feel my body pulsating with strength as I open my eyes. Everything has taken on a new and richer hue. I can feel the subtle life force of the little girl, not two yards away from me. "Rin" I call out, "please move far away from the tree, I don't want you getting hurt while I'm cutting it up." She nods and quickly obeys, dragging some small branches behind her. Looking down at the tree I see a faint blue line running through the center of the trunk with several transparent green lines on either side. Concentrating on that blue line I reach for the small hatchet attached onto my back pack. _'If I hit that central line with just the right amount of force I can break this tree in half.'_ Focusing further, I slowly begin to awaken my youkai blood to give me the physical strength to cut the tree. I walk towards the center of the fallen tree. Stepping to the side, I square my shoulders and scratch the spot with a small 'x' where my hatchet needs to strike. I steady myself and the power flowing through my body as I raise the hatchet above my head and in one swift, fluid slash, the tree cracks open – splitting in two equal halves. I immediately hear a loud gasp. I whirl around thinking Rin has spotted some danger approaching. Instead I see her with a look of pure amazement written across her face.

"You're almost as strong as Sesshoumaru-sama" she says in a voiced filled with awe.

I raise my eyebrow at this remark _'Almost! Who the hell is this guy?'_ I think.

"Wow," her eyes widen "he raises his eyebrow just like that, too. Are you related to Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asks innocently.

"No Rin, I don't think I'm related to Sesshoumaru-sama." I notice then that she's made a makeshift lap with her kimono filling it with dead leaves. "If that's all the leaves you can fit in there take them over to the well. Then gather some more."

She nods her head and slowly walks back to the well trying not to spill any of the leaves. She piles them next to the considerable amount of fire wood she has gathered. I am impressed.

Return to the two long planks of wood, I cut those in half as well. I then drag them one by one towards the well. First we brushed away as much snow as we could from the side of the well and then pilled the dried leaves to create a warmer bedding. With Rin's help I manage to prop the planks against the side of the well, creating a lean-to. I direct Rin to gather some rocks to make a proper fire ring and to drag as much dry wood into one side of our shed as she can. Meanwhile I cover up as many holes between the planks in our shelter by cutting off some of the branches and then sliding them into the open spaces. Once she's brought back some stones I have us crawl into the shelter, where we place the fire ring near the opening. By the time we get the fire started the sun is beginning to set. We strike up a conversation where she tells me that she's been living as a ward of Sesshoumaru-sama for the past five years, since she was five years old. She finally tells me, in a tiny little voice, what happened to Ah-Un.

"I was checking on my animals by the Blue Lake, making sure they had everything they needed before the storm came, when a gigantic dragon emerged from the sky, blocking out the sun with his colossal wingspan. He bellowed something about making the 'dog lord' suffer for his transgression against the dragon clan, and before I knew what was happening he landed right in front of me. I couldn't move a muscle as I stared into those hate filled black eyes. Even as I saw him preparing to roast me with his fiery breath I could do nothing but stare. That's when Ah Un jumped in front of me, taking the brunt of the dragon's fire. Still not able to make myself run away, Ah-Un flung me onto his back with his front paws and we were taking to the sky. I heard this horrible roar behind us and I knew without turning around that the larger, evil dragon was chasing us.

I could see that part of Ah-Un's scaly hide had disintegrated from the dragon's potent breath and…" she tightens her fists in my shirt, "…I just **knew** he was in so much pain." She inhales harshly, trying to compose herself before she continues with her narrative. "Ah-Un tried really hard for so long to outmaneuver the black dragon but he was hurt and the dragon was relentless. Then my friend turned his head to look at me. I could see

that he knew he was going to die but that he wanted me to survive. The next time he swooped down close to the forest's floor I was not surprised when he shook me off and I rolled away. Ah-Un flew back into the air above the trees. I know he was trying to distract our foe from me because he flew straight towards him. I was hiding safely when the evil dragon caught my friend and tore him in half with his giant teeth." Fresh tears fall as she barely chokes out, "He was my best friend".

We both spared a moment of silence for the brave Ah-Un. Breaking into the cloud of heartache that surrounds her I speak up, telling her that it is a tradition in my family to sing a songin honor of a loved one's passing. I ask her if she would like me to honor her friend so. She gives a solemn nod and I begin to sing _By yon Bonnie Banks_, infusing the song with my emotions, lending my voice a quiet grace with every note.

A peaceful stillness falls upon us with the end of my solemn song. With a soft note of wonder in her voice, Rin breaks the silence, "That was such a pretty song, Tara. I often entertain myself by singing when I accompany Sesshoumaru-sama during his lengthy patrols. I don't know many songs and I'm afraid I bore my lord by repeating the same ones over and over again. Also, I know I'll be missing Ah-Un a lot during our travels and your song eased some of the pain, so could you teach me that beautiful song" she asks with a hopeful look in her eye?

With a smile, I nod and begin teaching her the words. I explain that it's about a warrior who, having been mortally wounded in combat, consoles his comrade by telling him that his spirit will meet him again in their native land. I find that she is a quick study as she

learns the words and tune in no time, and she soon has me teaching her many more. We sing until our empty stomachs start rumbling. With a heavy sigh, Rin asks me if I have anything to eat? I respond by extracting the apple and banana from my coat pocket. I notice the apple is a little bruised so I take that for myself and hand her the banana. Starting in on my fruit, I notice her staring at the banana and before I can stop her she promptly bites into it, without removing the peel.

Gagging, "Tara-san this food is terrible" and spits out the offending mouthful.

Trying to stifle my laughter I choke out "I'm sorry, Rin I didn't think to tell you not to eat the skin." I reach down and show her how to unpeel it. With a tentative, nibble she tastes the soft fruit.

"This is strange but very good," she says with her mouth full from another bite.

We continue to talk away the hours, but as the roar of the storm increases I can feel the temperature drop as the wind picks up, but I know as long as I stay awake to keep the fire fed we will be able to survive the night. Eventually Rin falls asleep, and with the howling of the wind and the tension easing from my tired muscles, I close my eyes for just a moment…

Weaving indiscernibly through his silver hued hair, tiny snowflakes shimmer as they fall upon the formidable warrior. Walking with genteel ease, his leather clad feet appear to glide over the rocky hill as he approaches his winter home. The white silk of an empty sleeve billows in the cold gust while his long hair dances lightly behind him. The scurrying of stubby little legs can be heard far behind the beautiful inuyoukai as his loyal vassal, Jaken, tries desperately to keep up with the long strided Taiyoukai.

He walks purposefully towards a huge boulder that appears to have lain at the base of the tall peak for eons. It is swathed in several multicolored layers of lichen and is obviously immovable by human hands, but as the lord approaches, he easily rolls it to the side, revealing a tall but narrow doorway. He waits for his diminutive toady to enter the private entrance to his home before he returns the stone to its sentry duty.

After traveling down the shadowy tunnel for only a few moments he hears the pitter-patter of swiftly moving feet at the same time detecting the scent of his adoptive mother, Yasu. An affectionately plump, brown haired woman stops short, within a hairsbreadth of smacking right into his chest.

"Sesshou-san", she says after catching her breath, "I am so glad you have returned. I fear something terrible has befallen Rin and Ah-Un. They left hours ago and have not returned. She was so worried that her woodland friends were not prepared for the coming storm that I allowed her to leave for the afternoon to see to them. I would have gone with her, but I had to supervise the servants and make sure we had enough supplies left for the rest of the winter…" she starts biting her bottom lip and wringing her hands, "…but she told me she did not need me to come with her, that Ah-Un would protect her and that she would be back before the snow started falling, but that was several hours ago and…" the tall, slightly annoyed man puts his finger up against her quivering lips, silencing her rambling.

"Do you know where they went?"

Taking in a deep breath to temporarily calm her frazzled nerves, "She said she would be at the Blue Lake at the southern edge of the mountain." She starts wringing her hands and biting her bottom lip again, appearing to be mere seconds away from a crying fit when Sesshoumaru places a hand on her shoulder and speaks, in a comforting voice, "I shall find her" calming her instantly.

He orders Jaken to remain with Yasu as he quickly leaves to retrieve his tardy ward.

"Come Yasu," the toad leads the little inuyoukai towards her room, "Let's have some tea while Sesshoumaru-sama retrieves his silly human."

That was really evil of me leaving you with that cliffhanger ending. I hadn't originally intended to do that but that's what happened. Don't worry I've already started Chapter 5, and that'll probably take me about a week – week/half to write and edit it. Unfortunately I don't have next weekend to work on it as I'll be away visiting family gags…the people I have to put up with because of shared blood…oh well. Don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 5 Fukai Mori

12

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha that privilege belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own Tara O'Connor and her dog Bran.

A thousand apologies my faithful readers for being so late in updating. It was a combination of slight writer's block, natural procrastination, trying over several days to figure out the overall plot of the entire story and then simply figuring out the plot of this one chapter – not to mention having to edit and revise it about 10 times before it was perfect enough for you wonderful people to read.

Chapter 5 –Fukai Mori

Leaping down the mountainside, his hair streams behind him like the silver tail of a comet, bounding from hilltop to hilltop, 'til at last, he reaches the dense row of fir trees, surrounding the Blue Lake. He easily maneuvers past the living barrier, with nary a mark from the sharp foliage. Like a pale ghost, he silently emerges from the dark green wall, to look down upon the sight of an incredibly wide mountain lake. Obviously something, **very** large must have crashed into the earth in the far distant past, creating the deep crater where the lake now resides. Its usual crystal blue appearance is absent as it now reflects the grey storm clouds above. A cool breeze lightly brushes the watery surface, creating gentle swells that ripple outward to lap against the iced edge of the lake.

The lord takes a moment to sniff the air, searching for Rin's scent. Once he's found it, he follows the path she took in making sure her animal friends would survive the coming storm. He walks for several paces, before venturing back into the forest, and sees where she placed an extra covering of greenery around a wolf family's den. His eyes soften minutely, as he ponders his amazing little girl, who goes out of her way to take care of those who had hurt her in the past. He quickly moves forward several yards, to stop at the base of a large tree where a light dusting of snow shows the numerous crisscrossed markings of many tiny bird's feet. _'Rin must have taken some seeds from the store room to feed the birds,'_ he silently muses. Staring at them for another moment reveals the deeper impression of a snow monkey's footprints. Taking a wider look around again he spies Rin's footprints no more than a foot away from where the snow monkey stood. _'Did she actually feed the monkey from her hand?'_ He shakes his head at this unbelievable image, though he knows, with first hand knowledge, how remarkable an ability she has to pacify wild animals, practically making friends with every creature she meets. His face relaxes, just a little bit, as he remembers how she tried to take care of him, while he recuperated after being severely wounded from a battle with his half-brother. _'She was so young when we first met, I believe she viewed me more as one of her wounded animals than as a dangerous youkai.'_ A loud 'rustle' high above his head, intrudes upon his thoughts, just as a pile of snow falls to the ground, landing at his feet. Looking up, he sees a pair of snow monkeys, a mother carrying a young one on her back, leaping from branch to branch, confirming his earlier observations.

He continues onward in his search, following Rin's scent further into the dense forest. The broad evergreens, heavily dusted with a thick layer of snow, appear magnificent in the waning light. He only takes a moment to notice how she covered a tanuki's (raccoon dog) den with greenery, just like she did for the wolves. He has traveled almost a quarter of the way around the lake when a strong wind blows in from the other side, carrying with it the acrid scent of burned flesh, accompanied by the stench of a familiar enemy. His tall frame stills as his heart falters for a split second, recognizing another clue in the wind – the sharp aroma of Rin's fear. His eyes flash red, as his inner beast suddenly awakens. With a vicious growl he races southeast, using his fantastic speed, toward the disturbing smells.

Upon reaching the other side of the lake, he sees the earth and trees charred from the dragon's heated breath. Narrowing his eyes, he steps toward the blackened sand,_ 'I only smell Ah-Un's burned flesh, not hers…good! Ah-Un must have protected her, but received severe burns in the process.'_ Breathing in, he can practically taste Rin's panic, causing him to expose his deadly fangs as his outraged beast snarls and batters violently against its mental cage. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he studies the different smells, determining that they were attacked only a few hours ago. He noticeably flares his nostrils, trying to pinpoint Rin's last location. _'I can still smell her fear, faintly permeating the air high above my head…she's obviously riding Ah-Un to escape the dragon'_ he quickly deduces. This is further proven by the deep grooves, scarring the earth where Ah-Un's claws propelled him and Rin into the air; and the undisturbed snow that has begun to fill-in the tracks proves that they left hours ago.

His inner demon howls, demanding that he be set loose to adequately protect the pup from the vengeful enemy. His more rational side agrees with the beast therefore releases it, allowing it to take free rein of his mind as his body transforms into an extraordinarily large, white dog. He is easily twice the height of a horse and though obviously a dog, holds a feral quality usually reserved for wolves. The Lord still retains a commanding presence, that truly makes him appear otherworldly. Looking ahead, he sees stretching far into the distance, a trail of broken branches and scorched trees. Without wasting another second, he quickly gallops away through the thick forest, traveling southward, following the path of destruction.

Hours have passed and night has fully descended upon the land and with it the temperature drops well below freezing. A great hound crests over a snowcapped hill amidst the swirling blizzard. Wading through knee deep snowdrifts, the wind whips past him, making his eyes painfully dry. He shivers slightly in the raging storm. _'Rin will not survive long in this storm, now that she is alone. I found Ah-Un's body – or rather, what _was_ left of it after that foul dragon vented his anger by thoroughly ripping him apart.'_ He lets out a frustrated howl as he once again tries to find his missing pup, but the ferocious blizzard has made it almost impossible to pinpoint Rin's location.

He takes a particularly hefty breath seeking to calm himself when he realizes that he is in his half-brother's forest. A small gleam of hope enters his eyes as he remembers something important his Father told him about long ago. _'The Guardian's Heart, what the humans mistakenly call the Bone Eater's Well, is near here. It is an ancient place of protection and safety, and legend holds, it has a particular fondness for the royal family of the dog clan…I wonder if Ah-Un knew this and took her there? It is at least a destination worth trying.'_ Partly through scenting and partly from memory he makes his way through the dark trees, toward the ancient well. As he nears the edge of the clearing he is at last able to pick-up Rin's scent along with the faint traces of smoke. _'She is very resourceful, this human of mine.'_ Taking another deep breath he detects anothersmell– that of a mature human female._ 'Perhaps this is not a bad occurrence since I do not detect Rin's fear on the wind. Whether it is the well or just coincidence, help has been offered and I thankfully welcome it.'_

With renewed hope, he trudges through the packed snow until he enters the empty clearing, barely making out the dark silhouette of a primitive shelter, presumably covering the females. _'It has snowed here more than in other areas I have searched. The snow is quite deep in the open field.'_ With an unexpected rush of exhilaration upon finding his lost pup he bounds through the snow, quickly reducing the distance between himself and his precious Rin. Crouching down and peering into the small opening at the side of the lean-to – he is barely able to push his snout into the hole. Taking a loud, deep whiff he determines that the occupants are still alive. He also observes that the older female has enfolded Rin in her lap and has them both wrapped warmly in her coat. Upon seeing the quickly dying flames of a fire, the huge dog hears a startled gasp and turns to see a now very alert young woman staring at him through piercing blue eyes.

When the pair of crimson canine eyes locks with the female's, her reaction startles them both. She bares her teeth and growls a fierce warning to stay away. The beast is taken aback by her bizarre behavior and wonders, _'Why would a human react like a threatened inuyoukai female?'_ He then notices her slowly sneaking her arm behind her back as if reaching for a weapon, just as Rin peers over the edge of the coat crying joyfully, "Sesshoumaru-sama!" Wriggling free of the woman's embrace she crawls over and begins to lightly pet the great beast's muzzle, earning a pleased, yet sloppy, lick from her lord. The woman is absolutely stunned by the turn of events but soon recovers and respectfully bows her head, recognizing Rin's benefactor. He grunts curtly at her instantly accepting behavior as Rin crawls back into the warmth of the woman's body.

Slightly put out by Rin's disregard of his attention, he withdraws to further assess the situation. Determining that the shelter is too small for him to enter yet knowing that he can provide more heat than their puny fire, he knocks down the lean-to with a swift swipe of his forepaw. The young woman gives him an alarming, disbelieving glare as she curls more tightly around Rin – protecting her from the harsh winds. Before she truly starts to feel the cold, though, the great beast nudges its body between her back and the well, completely enveloping the two stranded humans. He lays his head next to Tara's side and drapes his bushy tail across them. They immediately feel an amazing amount of heat radiating from his body, warming them better than any furnace. The child trustingly falls asleep again as the tension slowly eases from the woman's taut body. Tara would be mortified if she realized that as she drifted to sleep herself she began to gently scratch behind the giant hound's ears, drawing a contented growl from the great beast. The gruff command to 'go to sleep' only elicits a snort from her as she buries her face in his downy fur.

'_I can't believe I've been reduced to messenger bird'_, broods Bumox as he soars through the darkening sky. He curls his lips in disgust as he crests over the high peaks of the Dog Clan's winter home. He angrily reflects upon the dishonorable death of his father, Ryuukossei, at the paws of Toshiro, the late Lord of the Cur's Clan. He remembers watching his motherwaste away from heartache after learning that her beloved would never return because he foolishly challenged the Dog Clan's leader. _'I was just a hatchling when Toshiro ruined my family and thwarted the Dragon Clan's attempt to control the fertile Western Lands.'_ Drifting above the trees, he spots a small human girl and a young dragon, with the insignia of the Dog Clan upon his saddle, busily working by the lake. _'Could the rumors be true? Does the feared Lord of the Western Lands indeed have an adopted human and a pet dragon? What an opportunity! I shall make him suffer as I have. Destroying someone he cares about is at least a start. This will prove that I should not be treated as a measly 'carrier pigeon'. I am worth more than that, after all I am my father's son. he may have fallen in battle, but there is no denying he was a great warrior.'_ Swooping down toward the small child, he roars a terrible, raspy cry, "The Dog lord will rue the day he messed with my family!" The trees sway from the power of his descent and the earth quakes as he lands brutally upon the ground right in front of the terrified human. _'She is too frighten to even move…it is pitiful how easily these humans can be killed.'_ Bumox rears his head back to unleash a raging inferno upon the petrified girl and as soon as the heated breath erupts from his throat his is surprised when the insufferable pet dragon leaps in front to shield her – taking the brunt of the scorching flames. With his seared flesh giving off steam in the cold air, he forces the human onto his back and quickly takes to the sky. _'That disgusting excuse for a dragon…how **dare** he defy one of his own kind!'_ With an earth shattering screech he unfurls his wings, digs his claws into the ground and springs into the air to pursue his prey _'until the ends of the earth if I have to.'_

Swooping through the air, Bumox trails the slowly dying dragon. _'It won't be long now'_ he perceives as he tries to blast him again with a fireball. Just in time the dragon swoops down under the cover of the thick forest, backtracking somewhat behind Bumox. The adolescent dragon then sails upward, swerving to the far left. _'So he decided to discard the human…it matters not, she will die soon enough' _he thinks with a predatory gleam in his eyes. Pumping his wings faster he quickly overtakes the dying dragon and grabs him roughly between his powerful back claws, ripping his torso in half. He follows the corpse's downward spiral, crushing one of its heads as he lands hard on the ground. Swiveling toward the human's last known location, a cold, wet snowflake lands on his snout, right between his eyes. This single snowflake is soon followed by a score more causing the steely gray leviathan to visibly shiver. Growling in frustration, he notes the sun's waning position in the darkening sky, _'Damn it! I'll never be able to out fly it now! I can tell from the quick shifting of the dark clouds that this storm is going to strike soon and when it does it will be ferocious._ _'I'll leave at dawn tomorrow, if the wind has died down enough to see. Surely my uncle would prefer I was safe, rather than have his missive delivered a few hours earlier.'_ With a disgruntled huff he glances at the human barely a mile away in a small clearing but decides not to waste his time, since the blizzard will quickly kill her for him. Rearing up on his hind legs to peer over the canopy of the trees, he sees, in the far distance, a small cave that will suffice for his temporary needs. With a great whoosh from his strong wings he sets out for the rocky haven to wait out the coming storm, satisfied with day's thrilling bonus.

The sun descends behind the tall snowcapped peaks, bathing the land in ominous shadows while the wind howls past the illuminated opening of the huge cavern. A low rumble echoes off the earthen walls as an enormous dragon paces back and forth. His dark blue scaly hide shimmers in the flickering torch light. He often fixes his stormy sea green eyes upon the entrance, obviously expecting an arrival at any moment. His wings twitch in irritation, drawing the eye toward his partially missing right wing, the only part remaining being a portion of the wing bone sprouting out of his right shoulder. Finally he hears the steady flapping of his nephew's wings followed shortly by the loud plod of feet as Bumox enters the lair with a pleased look about him. The tardy messenger swiftly shakes the snow from his body, in a very canine like manner, leaving a sopping wet pool of snow at his feet.

'_What is that overgrown lizard so happy about?'_ the older dragon grumbles to himself while directing a reproachful glare towards the youngster.

"You're late, nephew. I hope it was a worthwhile venture that kept you from your appointed duties." Sharply motioning for Bumox to walk beside him down the long corridor towards Lord Vadim's chambers.

"It was, Uncle Furunami." He replies, puffing out his chest slightly in anticipation of the praise he expects to receive. "I came upon that mongrel lord's pet human with only that sorry excuse for a dragon as protection. I decided to administer a little payback for the destruction of my family by killing the human female. That stupid dragon actually tried to save her but in the end I ripped him apart. There wasn't enough time to dispatch the human too so I decided to let the storm kill her for me. I had to wait for the skies to clear before continuing on my mission."

Suppressing a frustrated groan, Furunami replies firmly, "You really need to stop starting your own fires, Bumox. How many times have I told you that you don't have the requisite knowledge gained from experience to make such momentous decisions on your own."

The young dragon deflates somewhat under the stern scolding, but foolishly defends his actions, "Uncle, I would think you'd be happy that I weathered the storm safely and was able to inflict damage upon the Sesshoumaru-sama. Everyone knows how much you loath the ruler of the Dog Clan for the loss of your wing when you challenged his right to rule the Western Lands."

The old dragon abruptly stops in his tracks, scraping his claws harshly against the stony floor, and emitting a terrifyingly deep rumble as he slowly turns a steely eyed gaze toward the now cowering braggart. He speaks not a word, his message is quite clear to his young nephew that he will not hesitate to strike him down for mentioning the deformity that cost him his warrior position in the Clan.

"My apologies Furunami-san, I meant no insult", whispers Bumox.

He reaches over and, with his foreclaw, plucks the tightly wound scroll from his imbecilic relative's leather carrier and swiftly departs, leaving the cringing fool almost piddling on the floor.

'_That damn fool never does know when to keep his mouth shut!'_ Furunami thinks angrily as he knocks upon the door of his lord's private chambers. Upon hearing the command to enter he steps in to the surprisingly simple office. It is perhaps the one truly secure place in a dwelling where sound carries throughout the many caves and caverns. Making secrecy extremely difficult. Therefore it is only here that either of them feel secure enough to discuss the plans for seizing the lands to the west.

Lord Vadim sits at a large rosewood desk near the hearth on the far side of his spacious room. Though having the slender build of the native dragons, his dark, cranberry red scales glisten in the light of the roaring fire. The flames reflect in his coal black eyes, giving him a fiercely intimidating appearance. Holding his massive wings elegantly to catch the warmth of the flames, he beckons Uncle Furunami to recline upon the large silky pillows strewn in front of his desk. With a final swish of the ink brush he sets aside the tedious duties he loathes and welcomes his oldest and most trusted advisor.

"Do you have the reply we've been anxiously awaiting, Uncle?" Vadim asks with a hopeful smile.

"Yes, Sir; Bumox was successful in returning, though I apologize for his tardiness."

Interrupting with a shrug of one of his wings, the red dragon reaches for the scroll. "What does my childish, bastard brother have to say about his late arrival?" The Lord asks resignedly.

"The storm is, of course, some of his excuse but he would have been here last night if he hadn't stopped to dole out a little revenge on my behalf I'm afraid."

Letting out a longsuffering groan, Vadim states "What has he done now? If I have to get

him out of more trouble I'll be tempted to post him to permanent guard duty in the high tower. Send him in. I want to hear directly from the great bungler himself," he orders.

With the defiant look and body language of a spoiled child, Bumox enters the inner chamber he has seldom seen. Giving his half-brother a sketchy salute the dark gray dragon stand, to attention, awaiting the expected lecture.

"At ease, Bumox. Tell me of this vengeance our uncle says you decided to act upon", Lord Vadim asks in a deceptively calm voice.

Surprise flickers in the dull eyes, _'I knew attacking our enemy's friends was a good idea.'_ With a cocky smile he launches into his epic battle with the cur's ferocious dragon and simpering human pet.

"…and then that foolish dragon dropped the screaming human and came at me with teeth barred and claws extended. I defended our family with bravery and honor. With one swipe of my claws I rent him in two. The storm overtook me during the fight so it wasn't until the next morning that I could search for the girl. It was then that I came upon the Great Dog himself. He was transformed into his huge, white canine form which made it difficult for me to see him against the snowy landscape. In fact, if it hadn't been for the fiery color of his female companion's hair, I may not have noticed them at all. The child and the woman rode on the beast's back. I deemed it more prudent to return with your message than battle the uncouth mutt." He finishes his narration in a splendid flourish as his wildly gesticulating claws return to his side awaiting his lord's praise for his heroism.

Lord Vadim speaks in a cold commanding voice, annunciating each word without a trace of the anger boiling just under his skin. "So you decided to abandon your mission, attack an unarmed human child – who is under Sesshoumaru-sama's personal protection, and then proceeded to strike one of our own kind – subsequently causing his death." Hardening his voice even more he asks, "Is this correct, brother?"

Bumox's blood begins to freeze as his brother tallies off each deed, he once again realizes that he will never be able to measure-up to his older half-brother, the supreme ruler of the Dragon Clan.

Yet his foolish pride refuses to allow him to admit defeat even when it is inevitable. Fumbling over his words he replies, "Ah….yeah!" Turning to his uncle, "I thought you would appreciate what I did. There wasn't anybody around to ask and you're always telling me to think for myself."

Not even able to look him in the eye, Furunami replies as if he were speaking to a three-year old hatchling and not a three hundred year old mature dragon, "You misunderstand…again, Bumox. I ask, why can't you think for yourself. I'm not actually telling you to do it."

Vadim stops his brother before he makes the situation even worse for himself and truly gets on their uncle's bad side.

"Tell me about this woman you saw. I don't remember hearing anything about Sesshoumaru-sama consorting with a human female, except for his young ward that is. Perhaps she is the young one's nanny?" Vadim ponders aloud.

"She didn't look like any nanny I've known. She had long red hair and her clothes were like none a woman is allowed to wear. She had on men's pants and I believe she had a shield strapped to her back. That is not like a nanny, or any female we've ever encountered, right?"

Blowing out an exasperated breath, Vadim instructs his brother to return to his quarters with orders not to leave until further notice.

After sending Bumox away, Vadim settles back on the cushions lining the floor and reaches for the belatedly delivered message still resting upon the desk. He quickly unfurls it and reads the document. A puzzled look comes over his face. Upon completing the message he hands it over to his Lieutenant Counselor saying, "What do you make of this?"

Furunami quickly reads the message and with a rather blank expression on his shadowed face speaks, "It seems we are needed. The demands from Naraku do not appear difficult, but I would advise you to study his request thoroughly. I cannot see how the capture of a mere mortal would be worth the aid he is promising to us. And what is the significance of this poem?" He stares into the fire with a far away expression to his eyes. "It reminds me of a story I heard as a young dragon. But I know there is more to it than just this one verse." Furunami places the scroll on the desk and sits down. The scroll unwinds slightly revealing a small cryptic verse:

_With Royal Hounds abides_

_the flame of tomorrow._

_Her touch is supreme,_

_ere the ancient stone awakens._

"You do realize, Counselor, that the woman our dimwitted kinsman saw could very well fit this description." Pausing for a moment he pointedly asks, "You believe there is more to this prophecy?"

"My brain is telling me that I have heard this tale before and I think it was much longer. Of course at my age, I could be mistaken, Sir."

Vadim looks at him disbelievingly and then begins to chuckle lightly saying, "So the impossible has occurred. You have actually forgotten something – and a potentially important something at that. Hopefully this poem has been recorded. I will look in the library. I haven't been in the ancient manuscripts section since the days with my old tyrant of a tutor."

"Would you like some company?" subtly queries the old dragon.

As they walk towards the ancient library, Furunami reasons quietly to himself, _'I need to find that poem. I know there is more to it and I feel it is very important. This could work to my advantage. One never knows when an opportunity arises that will be useful in my plan to destroy the Dog Lord.'_

The walk to the chamber containing the Dragon Kingdom's ancient history is so well prized that it is held in the Royal Family's own private quarters. There is always a fire burning to keep the dampness from destroying the fragile treasures. A guard is posted as well, for more immediate protection and supervision. Receiving his customary salute from the guard, Lord Vadim begins staring at the vast array of stored information lining the innumerable shelves and cupboards.

"Where are we to begin, Furunami? I admit I'm a bit overwhelmed."

"I can see us searching for weeks in this maze," he calmly answers.

Hearing the lack of interest in his Uncle's voice the young Lord gives his old advisor a penetrating look, and quietly questions, "Do you have any suggestions? Do you remember who may have told you or better yet do you know who wrote this poem? If we know who composed it than we can go to where his books are kept."

Deciding not to share information until he investigates further, yet not wanting to be caught in a lie, the embittered councilor answers only one query. "I don't remember where I heard the legend or who told it to me. I'm sorry I can't help you in that way. Let me think on it for a while my Lord. Maybe it will come back to me."

With a small sigh, the Red Dragon gracefully steps toward a row of manuscripts he believes to be the oldest, but soon after studying a few random scrolls he gives up with a disgusted huff.

"It is absolutely futile for me to waste my time perusing book randomly in the hope of finding one tiny poem. I will call upon the Head Librarian in the morning for his expertise in this matter." Turning abruptly from the bookcase he steps purposefully towards his dependable, old advisor speaking in an authoritative voice, "You are correct, Furunami, there is most certainly more to Naraku's offer than this simple task, and I mean to find that out before I make an alliance with him."

Giving the guard a friendly nod, Vadim invites Furunami to share the evening meal with him as they return to the mundane routine of the day.

Late that night Furunami returns to the library. A different guard is at post to open the door for the Lieutenant Counselor. He promptly strolls up to a particularly old chest. Inside is a thin, brittle ancient scroll which he removes with expert care. Delicately unwinding the rare yellowed paper he scans it hastily and with an evil gleam warming his sinister green eyes, stuffs it into a hidden pocket and quietly exits the room, leaving the guard to wonder what could be so important in the middle of the night. Whatever it is, it surly didn't take long and if the skills he has developed over the years in the Lord's service are not failing him, there was an air of subterfuge surrounding the Lt. Counselor. _'I wonder if I should report this to my supervisor,'_ he ponders apprehensively.

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did and I'll see y'all in 2 weeks with the next chapter. R&R please!


	6. Chapter 6 Homeward Bound

Dedicated to Silver Wolf my latest reviewer and supporter and to my fantastic beta, without which this story wouldn't be half as good as it is.

I'm sorry this took so long, but I was originally going to make this a very long chapter, but after almost a month and at 18 pages it's still not finished. I didn't think it was fair to make you lovely people wait any longer so without further ado I give you the latest chapter in this saga.

Chapter 6 – Homeward Bound

Dawn's early rays barely illuminate the large, snow-covered clearing, as dainty snowflakes scatter upon the three resting creatures. The two females sleep peacefully in the gentle embrace of the great white hound as he keeps the vulnerable members of his pack safe and warm from the inclement weather. Unlike the tired humans, he is not truly asleep as he is able to keep the instinctual portion of his mind awake and alert for any possible threats. Therefore as his rational mind sleeps and his body recuperates, the more primal part of himself analyzes the strange new female that fate has placed in his company.

Once he laid down next to the woman he is pleased by her ready acceptance of the situation as he feels her relaxing against him. His rational side is already asleep but is almost startled into wakefulness when he feels her fingers gently scratching behind his sensitive ears. But he soon calms down, growling contentedly as the strange woman affectionately strokes his fuzzy ears, like a beloved mate. Realizing the oddity of the situation he flicks his ears away from the vexing woman's wandering fingers and gruffly commands the female to go to sleep. He is amused by her disgruntled snort at his brusque command but she quickly falls asleep buried in his fury body.

Sniffing the air he determines that there is nothing unusual in the area and certainly nothing dangerous as his presence, even while resting, is enough to keep most predators from even contemplating attacking. His nostrils twitch as he takes in more of the strange woman's scent than he was able to last night because of the foul weather. _'What is this mysterious aroma permeating her body? It completely eludes me…in all my travels I have never come across such a delightful scent. It is a quite pleasant and wonderfully calming perfume she must have rubbed into her skin.'_ Sniffing again he confirms that it mixes well with her natural odor, which he happily notes is practically nonexistent. It is his experience that most human's – whether they bathe regularly or not – always have a lingering offensiveness to their scent.

Blinking his crimson eyes open he finds himself practically eye to eye with the alluring woman, who was now snuggling up against him, as if he were a giant 'Teddy Bear'. Letting his eyes wander over her soft features, he admires her long eyelashes as they fan out against her smooth fair skin, with a light dusting of freckles across her nose. His attention is drawn toward a few strands of pale red hair peeking out from her hood as they curl delicately upon her rosy cheek. _'Humm…I wonder what her skin tastes like…would it be as sweet as it smells?'_ he wonders just before he catches himself about to lick that captivating cheek. Mentally reprimanding himself, for such behavior is most inappropriate to someone of his station._ 'Besides'_ I think, _'I should be treating her with great courtesy, since she went out of her way to protect my pup, during that horrible storm.'_ Attempting to justify his behavior, he reasons, _'I must be more tired than I thought.'_ Sparing another glance at the young woman, his eyes wander over her lush lips, slightly chapped from the frosty air – stirring a desire to heal them with a lick of my tongue. _'Dear god, what is this woman doing to me!'_ mentally groaning he quickly distracts himself by glancing around the quickly brightening land.

He avoids looking directly at the woman again for fear he might truly embarrass himself and begins noting the humans' steady breathing and small sighs as signs that they will soon awaken from their deep, restorative sleep. Glancing at the sky, he decides that they must begin their journey now, before the storm intensifies once more. He brushes his wet nose under the woman's chin, attempting to gently nuzzle her to wakefulness. His efforts are in vain as she roughly bats him away, mumbling in English, "Stop Bran" and proceeds to burrow even further into his warm fur.

In retaliation to his gentle ministrations he lets an irate rumble shake her nice fluffy bed and jabs her sharply in her side, causing her to awaken with an outraged cry, "What the hell was that for, you mangy cur?" She is immediately taken aback by the disgruntled sight of a dog who is most certainly not Bran. _'That's not Bran? What's going on? Where am I?'_ are just a few of the hectic thoughts racing through her mind as she hastily looks about at the frozen terrain, trying to remember how she got here. With a heavy sigh she quickly composes herself while shooting a dark look at the offending canine.

Unlike Tara's stressful awakening, Rin gently rouses from the land of slumber upon recognizing the reverberations under her head. She stretches languidly and greets the two adults with an almost offensively perky "Good Morning!" She then soundly swats the white monstrosity in the ribs, not so subtly telling him that she wishes to get up.

He lurches to his feet, a bit unsteadily at first due to his stiff muscles, but quickly enough untangles himself from his charges. As he stands, he shrugs off the huge snowdrift that formed on his pale fur during the night. Noticing the many snowy inclines surrounding them he decides to aid his females in their trek to the privacy of the forest so they may attend to their morning needs by packing the powdery snow under his large fuzzy paws, swiftly creating a neat path.

Once finished with that task he decides to walk about the clearing for a few minutes to further stretch and warm-up his taut muscles while he waits for the rest of his pack to ready themselves for the coming journey. After a few minutes he hears the woman struggling through the snow only to stop abruptly. Turning about to see what is going on he is unsettled by her surprised expression upon realizing he's missing his left front leg. _'I wonder if it makes her uncomfortable? I know most humans are repulsed by deformities. _ _Honestly, I often forget that it is missing as I have been without it for years and have learned to do without it quite well.' _His worries are quickly dispelled when she smiles up at him while gradually approaching the formidable inuyoukai.

With only a few inches separating them, she slowly raises her hand towards his muzzle intending to greet him as an equal by allowing him to sample her scent as a way of showing she wished to become a part of his pack. Usually, when a lone female wishes to become a member of a pack she will greet the alpha male by submissively exposing her neck and torso to him. Looking up at the tall inuyoukai she inadvertently defers to him by showing off just a bit of her pale throat, meeting his bejeweled eyes for just a moment. By not locking her gaze with his, she conveys to him the message, 'We are equals but out of respect for your position I will defer to you as alpha.' With a guarded look to his eyes, he lowers his head and nuzzles her outstretched palm, even taking a sly lick as he accepts her into his pack. _'This woman is quite the mystery. Last night she greets me like a threatened inuyoukai female, (which I don't even need to tell you how bizarre that was since she is completely human!) then today she formally greets me as one warrior to another? Female warriors are rather rare in inuyoukai society. I know they are almost unheard of in human society.'_ With a final snuffle, he peers into her surprised eyes, _'I shall enjoy learning more about this woman.'_

'_Wow, I can't believe he just licked me! If Bran's tongue had ever felt that nice I doubt I'd have broken him of the habit. I swear he actually had a delighted, almost human, grin on his face when he did it. This is one really strange dog.' _

They stare at each other for a few moments, until Tara breaks the ice, "That must have been quite a fight?" she says directing her gaze to the stub of his left foreleg. "I hope you gave as good as you got."

Raising one floppy ear in surprise at this strange saying, he doesn't know exactly what she meant, but after observing her pleased expression and aura, he decides to take it as a compliment.

She steps forward and absently mindedly begins stroking his neck, picking tiny icicles off his silky white fur as she continues her conversation with the silent Lord.

"You are definitely the biggest dog I've ever seen. I thought Bran was huge, but noooo, he's just a little puppy compared to you." She giggles softly at her own joke. "Bran's my dog, if you were curious." she says as he cocks his head toward her melodious voice. My Da wouldn't let me leave home without his 'trusted wolfhound to guard and protect his baby girl's virtue'" she says the last part in a deep, patronizingly gruff tone, obviously meant to imitate her Father. He lowers his head to better appraise the woman standing before him and to get a better whiff of her delicious aroma.

She slowly brings her hand to his head and lightly strokes the jagged lines, "I wonder if these purple slashes across your muzzle have any significance?" He makes an agitated noise in the back of his throat at the ignorance of the woman, but when her nimble fingers begin fondling his ears he gladly leans into the caress.

Laughing happily, "You like that don't you boy" she says as she leans into his chest, rubbing her face in the downy fur as another laugh escapes her throat, its bell-like tone tickling his senses. Peering up at him, with a quizzical expression, "I swear I've seen that crescent moon, and even those stripes before" she queries. "Oh well, I'm sure it will come back to me sometime. Besides they're probably just your master's markings, to show which Lord you belong to."

'_So, she believes this Sesshoumaru has a master'_ he smirks as an idea forms in his mind, something he hasn't considered since he was young. While she continues to stroke his ears, he decides to put all he has learned to memory with the intention of examining it later. He soon sees Rin bounding towards them like a happy little puppy.

Tara straightens away from the great dog just as Rin reaches the beast's side. She takes but a moment to catch her breath before rambling excitedly, "I'm so glad you came to rescue us, Sesshoumaru-sama. We probably would have been all right though. We built a very good hut and a nice fire, but I was very happy to see you anyway," she gushes. Her honey tinged eyes dart back and forth, surveying the two adults as a nagging feeling rapidly envelops her being until it finally dawns on her that she has neglected the etiquette befitting a lady of her Lord's house. She straightens to her full, still quite diminutive height creating her impression of noblewoman as she respectfully bows toward the magnificent beast, and speaks with all the pomp and circumstance of a regal herald, causing the other woman to suck on her bottom lip to keep from giggling.

"Allow me to introduce you to my new companion. Tara-san, I present to you my guardian, Sesshoumaru-sama. Sesshoumaru-sama, may I present Tara-san, my rescuer."

Impatiently acknowledging the introductions, he jerks his head sharply over his shoulder, indicating that the females should climb onto his back. He sees the woman comprehend his silent commands and quickly races to the well, grabbing her satchel, shield, and bow and full quiver. Swiftly she slings the shield and quiver onto her back and slides the bulging pack over her shoulder. _'How strange…this woman is practically an army unto herself'_ he ponders the oddness that is Tara-san as he lays in the snow waiting for her to return and position herself behind Rin. With practiced ease she straddles the great beast as if he were merely a furry horse and not a giant three legged dog. Carefully rising so as not to dislodge his passengers, he takes a few tentative strides. Feeling that they have a secure hold on his thick bushy mane, he picks up speed. Soon his strength and size become apparent as they race though the snowy terrain towards his mountainous abode.

Honestly I can't stand waiting this long to update so I think I'm going to try updating scene by scene, that way I might actually update per week instead of once a month, which is simply intolerable.

Anyway, please review so I know whether this is headed in the right direction or not.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha that privilege belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own Tara O'Connor and her dog Bran.


	7. Chapter 7 Home at last

Chapter 7 – Home at last

The painfully white landscape glares in the noonday sun, as 'The Great Dog' trudges up a steep incline bearing a pair of human females upon his back. As the beast's labored breathing can attest they had been traveling at a relentless pace for several hours. Though the journey had been arduous, it had also been surprisingly pleasant for his traveling companions sang many songs in a thankfully harmonious duet. He didn't recognize the language but would have to personally thank Tara-san for teaching her these new songs. As much as he enjoyed being in Rin's company she had a penchant for singing the same songs over and over again on their long campaigns through the countryside.

Tara contemplates the last twenty-four hours while her eyes rove over the tall pinnacles, awash in a brilliant display of dazzling whites and shadowed blues. Her body stills as a delighted sigh escapes her lips in admiration of the wondrous sight before her. This subtle declaration of her pleasure in his people's ancient lair pleases the beast beneath her immensely.

'_I never would have guessed a three legged dog would have such a smooth gait if I weren't comfortably traveling upon one, right now. I wonder if they travel this way often? He certainly is faster than a common horse, even accounting for his larger size I can tell by the ferocity of the wind rushing past us that we are traveling at a ground consuming clip even for an automobile.'_

At the end of the winding, snow laden pass their journey comes to a halt at the base of another tall peak with a boulder strangely resting up against it. Sesshoumaru quickly lays down, allowing the females to dismount into the knee deep snow.

With a bright smile Rin gives her fury rescuer a big hug, exclaiming loudly into his ear, "Thank you for traveling so quickly Sesshoumaru-sama. I'm glad we're home now, 'cause I'm famished!"

Trailing behind Rin, as she walks toward the huge stone, Tara gives a friendly pat to their canine companion. "I can hear from your labored breathing how hard climbing this last stretch has been for you. I hope you get to rest now that we have arrived and your master gives you an extra tasty bone tonight. You have certainly earned it."

Weary from maintaining his canine form, Sesshoumaru, after obligingly shoving the boulder out from in front of his lair's entrance, quickly reverts back to his humanoid body. After seeing the newcomer disappear inside, he slowly steps into his home waiting for the humorous reaction he expects from his little prank. _'I can not wait to see the look on her face when she realizes she wanted to give 'The Great Dog Lord of the Western Lands' a treat.' _

I stumble through the snow and enter a richly decorated cave, instantly inhaling the pleasant aroma of burning wood. Examining the vibrantly colored tapestries adorning the dull gray walls, I notice how well they blend with the intricately woven rugs. There are a few low cushioned chairs resting in the far corner, easily accessible for guests' comfort. A large fireplace and a few glowing sconces illuminate the foyer as Rin dashes toward the brightly burning fireplace calling out, "Yasu-san, we're home!"

Soon the hurried footsteps and a woman's anxious voice are heard echoing through the hallway, "Stop yelling you little imp, that's no way for a lady to act." With arms out-stretched, a traditionally dressed plump matron rushes to enfold Rin in a bone-crushing hug. If it wasn't for her ample bosom providing a convenient cushion, at least one rib would certainly have snapped.

"I'm alright, Yasu-san. Let me go," she squeaks out trying to gently push away out of the distraught woman's overwhelming embrace. Secure in the knowledge that Rin is safe and sound she unfolds herself from around the young girl and finally notices the oddly dressed stranger standing a few feet away. Not even needing to be prompted Rin begins introducing the two women, "I would like to introduce my new friend, Tara-san. After Ah-Un died defending me she came and protected me during the storm." Turning slightly she gives Tara a respectful little bow, "Tara-san this is Yasu-san. She's the most important person here. She takes care of us all."

Bowing in response to Yasu's greeting, I am immediately the recipient of one of her famous crushing hugs.

"Thank you, Dear, for seeing to my adventurous charge." Seeing the melting snow on Tar's coat, Yasu exclaims, "Oh my, you must be frozen. I'll see to a room and something warm to eat." As she's turning away she notices the stunned look on her guest's face and glances in the direction of Tara's gaze.

Lounging in the entrance way, with the sunlight behind him, stands Sesshoumaru in all his mischievous masculine glory.

Noticing his significantly depleted youki (demonic energy) and his desperate attempts to hide that knowing impish grin from her, ire overtakes the little inuyoukai woman. His humor quickly shifts to a visible concern for his wellbeing as his former nanny pins him with a glare that would cower even the most hardened of veterans, - a look he's come to avoid since he was pup. "I can't believe you actually did that Sesshou-kun. Not telling this precious lady about your transformation abilities, just so you could spook Tara-san…" she starts wagging her finger at him, "…as if you were some misbegotten whelp - that is no way for a Lord to behave!" She fairly shrieks at him, barely catching her breath as she barrels onward in her chastisement. Tara tries to shield her reaction by covering her mouth with her hand. "And if you don't apologize to our guest for that immature stunt…so help me God, I don't care how big you are I…I'll take you over my knee and smack that fuzzy bottom of yours 'til you can hardly sit!" She finishes her tirade with an impressive growl for such a small creature and hastily retreats grabbing an awestruck Rin on her way out.

'_How does she do it? Even now, I can barely keep from squirming under that piercing glare, as if I were still an ill-disciplined chibi?' _ He thinks as he desperately tries to keep from hanging his head in shame.

He is about to bite the proverbial bullet and apologize to the woman when she starts laughing uproariously, sputtering the barely discernible words 'fuzzy bottom' several times. He is slightly offended at first at the woman's audacity to laugh at him, but her energetic behavior is so contagious that he admits to himself the absurdity of the previous scene and soon his own deep chuckles joins her joyful glee.

While their laughter subsides he moves two chairs over to the fireplace. Gracefully easing himself down into one, he arranges himself in cross-legged position in a subtle indication for the woman to join him.

Coming round to sit next to him, she is finally able to speak after stifling the last chuckle, "Wow! I haven't seen a grown man scolded like that since my grandmother caught my older brother spying on the widow McLaughlin one day when she forgot to draw the shades while she dressed herself."

Regaining his regal aura once more after such a lighthearted moment, he speaks in a firm, deep voice, "I apologize for shocking you, but the opportunity was too good to resist. Allow me to properly introduce myself," he bows his head, "I am Sesshoumaru-sama, Inutaisho of the Dog Clan and Lord of the Western Lands. In gratitude for saving my young ward's life I offer the hospitality of my home and my personal protection within these lands for as long as you have need of it."

Silence envelops the room before the young woman returns his bow with a graceful one of her own, "I am O'Connor Tara, a simple lass from the Emerald Isle. I gratefully accept your offer Sesshoumaru-sama. I am pleased that everything has worked out for Rin. She was quite distraught when I first met her," she finishes with a slightly worried frown marring her face.

"I'm sure she was, Rin was very attached to Ah-Un," he utters softly as a veil of sadness briefly shadows his golden eyes, vanishing in the blink of an eye. His expression flees abruptly as he takes command of the situation and briskly states, "First we must send word to your family that you are safe and will be well taken care of in my clan. I am sure they are quite worried."

"That's alright, they don't actually know I am here," she says with a slight catch to her voice.

He narrows his eyes at her, "Does this have anything to do with the Guardian's Heart?"

At her uncomprehending expression he explains, "The Guardian's Heart is the proper name for what human's call the Bone Eater's Well."

She stares into his golden eyes for a moment gauging his trustworthiness, "Yes it does. I presume you already know about the inner workings of the well, so I'll be honest with you. I am from the other side of the well – five hundred years in the future to be exact – I've been staying with my cousin's family for a couple of weeks. They are aware that the well would call me for some purpose but they have been away these last few days so they won't know I've crossed over 'til they come back tomorrow."

Silence ensues as he mulls over the last bit of information she divulged, verifying for him that it is from the future that this woman hails and not a parallel dimension.

"So you have met my half-brother?" he asks in a guarded tone.

"You mean Inuyasha?" With a quirky smile she continues, "Yes I have. As a matter of fact he challenged me to a duel. I punched him the stomach with the hilt of my sword. He slapped my leg with the flat of his blade. After all was said and done, we called it a draw."

He looks at her thoughtfully, "I'm impressed, he is not that easy to strike." His lip twitches in the beginnings of a smirk, "He was probably holding back since you are a woman."

Tara surprises him by looking him dead in the eye and answering him with a devilish grin, "Who's to say I wasn't holding back…hmm?"

His retort is cut short with a servant's arrival notifying them that the young woman's room is ready and that the cooks noonday meal awaits them in the private dining room. With the help of her guide, Tara carries her belongings triumphantly from the hall.

I hope y'all enjoyed that little chapter. I'm trying to update this story every weekend now, even if it's only a scene or two at a time. I simply don't think it's fair to y'all to wait longer than that for an update, so even if it's not a full chapter like I would have ended it to be if this were a real book, I'm still going to do everything in my power to update this story once a week.

Please let me know how I'm doing, is there anything in particular you like, what do you expect to happen next – any honest criticism is welcomed and appreciated since I'm writing this story to become a better writer and to share my made-up world involving the great and wonderful Fluffy-sama with you lovely people.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha that privilege belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own Tara O'Connor and her dog Bran.


	8. Chapter 8 The Blue Coat

Last chapter:

He looks at her thoughtfully, "I'm impressed, he is not that easy to strike." His lip twitches in the beginnings of a smirk, "He was probably holding back since you are a woman."

Tara surprises him by looking him dead in the eye and answering him with a devilish grin, "Who's to say I wasn't holding back…hmm?"

His retort is cut short with a servant's arrival notifying them that the young woman's room is ready and that the cooks noonday meal awaits them in the private dining room. With the help of her guide, Tara carries her belongings triumphantly from the hall.

Chapter 8: The Blue Coat

'_Wow…that guy is beyond hot! I guess he wasn't offended by my treating him like a common dog…but I better apologize for that anyway, just to be on the safe side.'_ She muses to herself as she follows the maid down the never-ending hallway toward her new room. _'I hope Bran's doing okay without me'_ is her last thought when the servant finally stops at an unobtrusive door, but when she opens it she is met by an even more pleasant room than the beautiful foyer she just left. It is quite spacious with an intricately decorated screen in the center, effectively creating a small receiving area with a table and chairs for personal guests shield from sight the covered tatami mats used for sleeping. A small fire blazing in the corner fireplace casts the room in a gentle light, accentuating the soft feminine pinks and greens adorning the room. Her eye is drawn to the wide tapestry depicting a fantastic battle scene between a dragon and an inuyoukai in a rocky valley with both clans gazing down upon the dueling foes. A soft noise intrudes upon her examination of the beautiful needlework and she turns around eyeing the mousy servant woman who is timidly watching her.

She bows low and with her eyes cast aside, the petite woman begins to speak when Tara interrupts her –

"Oh my, I seem to have forgotten my manners, I haven't properly introduced myself yet," and gives the stunned woman a small nod of her head, "My name is O'Connor, Tara."

It takes a moment for the woman to get over her shyness and she quickly bows fully at the waist saying, "You may call me Hanna, noble lady. I have been assigned to assist you in whatever you need before leading you to the Lord's private dining hall. Clothing has been provided for you in the wardrobe" she says as she points toward a tall, beautifully carved oak dresser nestled in the far corner next to the tatami mats. "There is also a basin full of warm water for you to freshen-up from your long journey."

A warm gleam blossoms in Tara's sky-blue eyes, "Ohhh…let's see what's we have here," stepping lightly toward the dresser. Opening the double doors in one wide flourish she gasps in awe at the bounty of beautiful kimonos just begging to be worn.

In her daze she utters her amazement in English, "These are the most beautiful clothes I've ever seen!"

"I trust they meet with your approval" queries Hanna in Japanese, attempting to ascertain if the odd woman's unintelligible utterance was actually as pleased as it sounded.

Switching back to Japanese, she offers Hanna an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I didn't even realize I was speaking in English just then. Yes, they most certainly do. But most of these are far too elegant just to wear for a simple meal." Upon closer examination she realizes that most of them are too short for her and were obviously designed for the petite women native to Japan. Not wanting to appear rude she searches for a garment that will fit. Panic slowly blossoms as she rummages through the copious amount of silk until she eventually spots, tucked between two dark kimonos, a simple pair of pants and a blouse. With relief she exclaims, "Ah ha" and pulls out the forest green, billowy pants accompanied by an equally flowing cream colored blouse. Worn with her boots the shortness of the trousers will look to her modern eye quite stylish.

"How did they get in there" Hanna blurts out upon seeing what Tara has chosen. "Those are a man's clothing!"

With a heavy sigh "Well then I think we have a problem here, Hanna. I didn't want to say anything unless it was absolutely necessary, but…" she gestures toward the dresser, "Nothing else in there will fit me and I highly doubt that what I'm wearing underneath my coat is appropriate either." To give her words effect she unbuttons her coat, displaying her stretchy hip hugger jeans and low scoop necked T-shirt.

"Oh my" is the only thing the servant woman utters at the sight of the scandalous outfit the young woman is wearing. Recovering her wits quickly, she walks over and removes the woman's long coat, "Well you're a foreigner so you will be allowed certain liberties." She circles around, examining how best to improve the tall woman's predicament. "I think a long haori will make your strange ensemble appear more appropriate for dining with Sesshoumaru-sama and the rest of his household."

Hanna searches through the wardrobe and promptly finds a simple, slightly worn, cobalt blue haori. "This one is rather old, but it's the only one long enough for your tall frame so it will have to do." She fingers a few worn spots upon the attractive silk jacket, "Even though it's not new I believe it will still add a touch of elegance to your ensemble." She helps Tara into the garment moving her long hair out of the way and then smoothing the back of the long jacket free of wrinkles. "Oh my," she gasps softly, "I didn't notice those silver leaves upon the sleeves." Tara eyes the beautiful garland of oak leaves cascading the length of the billowy sleeves, remarkably similar to her own clan's ancient symbol. Hanna whispers to herself, "I wonder if that comb I saw the other day will match it?" She looks critically at the young lady standing before her and nods approvingly before ushering Tara to sit at the charming wooden vanity, with the air of a determined lady's maid says, "Now to give that lovely hair of yours a style befitting a princess." Releasing the pony tail, not even sparing a glance at the strange stretchy tie she lays on the vanity. With brush and comb in hand she starts running them unmercifully through the woman's red locks, making it glisten like red gold. All the while mumbling incoherently as she pulls part of the waist length hair up, creating a small bun, high on the crown of Tara's head. Once that is secure she pulls out from a vanity drawer a delicate silver comb in the image of an oak leaf and sticks it neatly into the bun. Hanna continues rummaging through another drawer searching for a make-up kit. "May I add color to your lips? I think you need this to look more like a lady, yes?" She deftly applies the bright red pigment with a small brush to Tara's full lips. "We'll highlight those pretty blue eyes of yours like so," and skillfully coats her eyelids with a swoosh of black pigment, accentuating their almond shape.

Looking at herself in the mirror Tara is taken aback by the beautiful image reflected back at her. "Wow! Thank you so much Hanna, I look amazing. I just can't help but think, is all this truly necessary for a simple meal?"

She gasps, aghast that Tara would even consider such a thing. "Oh absolutely! Not only are you dining with Sesshoumaru-sama but Natesa as well, and you don't want her to outshine you, do you?"

"I guess not. Is there something about her I should know before we meet?"

Hanna speaks in a clipped tone, "No, she is a nice person, and is very kind to the staff. She is known for her elaborate style and I did not want you to feel inadequate."

"Thank you for your concern Hanna, with this beautiful comb and the wonderful make-up, I'm sure I'll feel quite comfortable in her presence." She gives the small woman a confident smile. She starts to rise when a thought obviously crosses her mind as her brow furrows slightly before asking, "Is there anything else I need to know? Are there any customs or protocols I should be aware of, so I don't accidentally offend my host?"

Hanna thinks for a moment before counseling, "Do not sit before the older people. Wait until the elder person speaks to you before speaking yourself. When you seat yourself at the table, you must do so without bending. Amongst inuyoukai, as a female you never bend over in the company of a male – it is viewed as a very lewd act amongst our kind and could get you into a lot of trouble as some men would view it as a signal that you wish to engage in carnal acts."

Tara blanches slightly at the last remark, but quickly squelches the sensation and turns with a grateful smile, "Thank you so much Hanna, not just for the advice, but for helping me appear like a proper lady."

"Of course Tara-san I am happy to be of service to you. Now we better get moving, we've kept the others waiting long enough," and swiftly ushers the young lass out of the room.

Following behind Hanna, Tara steels herself for the upcoming meal she is sure will be a taxing adventure.

I'm sorry if this appears to be moving slowly. It's because this chapter and the last two updates are meant to be part of one long chapter, but since I'm still not finished with it and I didn't want ya'll to wait forever for me to update this I'm just going to give you what I have for now. God knows I have a million ideas but it's so difficult to get them on paper even when I am in the mood to write which sadly I haven't found myself to be in for quite some time – I did have a wonderful break through last night but I still have at least a page or two of explaining Fluffy's suite and his conversation with his top spy to figure out. So hopefully I'll get that done this week and ya'll be able to read it next Sunday. )

Please Review – I need the support!


End file.
